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I.Vipieil  liy  W.  H.  Tii-ro.v, 


<:iiivr.t.iir,-.  y.> 


ALFRED  J.   FOX, 


Born  September  6,  1817.      Died  June  10,    18E 


BIOGRAPHY 


Key.  ALFRED  J.  FOX,  M.  D, 

EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN   MINISTER   OF    THE    TENNESSEE 
SYNOD,    AND   PHYSICIAN. 


BY  HIS  SON, 

Rev.  JUNIUS  B.  FOX,  A.  M., 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION 

BY  HIS  SON, 

Prof.  LUTHER  A.  FOX,  D.  D. 


i>tjbil.isi3:ei3  for  the  author. 


PHILADELPHIA : 
LUTHERAN  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY. 

1885. 


Copyright,  1885, 
By  Rev.  JUNIUS  B.  FOX. 


so 
O 


BIOGRAPHY 


OF 


Rev.  ALFRED  J.  FOX,  M.  D. 


PREFACE. 

npHE  purpose  of  this  biography  is  to  rescue  and  preserve 
from  oblivion  the  life  and  character  of  one  whose 
memory  deserves  to  be  guarded  with  aifectionate  interest. 
Its  responsibility  belongs  to  the  author  and  the  friends  who 
desired  its  publication.  No  pains  nor  expense  have  been 
spared  to  make  it  worthy  of  the  life  it  endeavors  to  picture 
with  no  touches  of  fancy,  but  with  truthful  expressions.  Its 
typography,  portrait,  and  general  appearance  speak  for 
themselves.  Every  available  source  has  been  sought  to 
gather  any  facts  that  might  throw  light  upon  the  history  of 
one  whose  noblest  deeds,  perhaps,  have  been  forgotten. 
The  unwritten  history  of  this  useful  life  would  be  transcend- 
ently  more  interesting  than  the  present  work,  could  it  be 
presented  in  its  stead. 

The  author  gratefully  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to 
kind  friends  who  have  aided  him  in  collecting  the  necessary 
material,  and  presents  this  book  to  a  generous  public  with 
the  sincere  hope  that  it  may  accomplish  good,  and  that  the 
blessing  of  the  Lord  God  of  our  fathers  may  go  with  it. 

J.  B.  F. 

Caney  Branch,  Tenn.,  Nov.  W,  1885. 
(V) 


INTRODITCTION. 


ANE  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  poverty  of  our  church  in 
^  America  in  biographical  literature.  A  few  of  the  lives 
of  eminent  ministers  in  Germany  have  been  translated  from 
the  German.  The  ninth  volume  of  Sprague's  Annals  of  the 
American  pulpit  was  devoted  to  Lutheran  ministers,  but 
while  very  important  and  interesting  as  sketches,  it  is  not 
complete  and  is  not  suitable  for  general  circulation.  Prof. 
M.  L,  Stoever  while  editing  the  Evangelical  Bevieiv  also 
published  a  number  of  biographical  sketches.  Separate 
articles  in  that  Revieiv  have  been  devoted  to  prominent  men, 
such  as  Drs.  S.  S.  Smucker,  D.  F.  Bittle,  and  B.  Kurtz. 
But  neither  the  sketches  by  Prof.  Stoever  nor  the  articles 
proposed  by  others  were  intended  to  be  full,  and  the  Revieiv 
is  not  often  found  outside  the  libraries  of  ministers.  The 
life  of  Dr.  H.  M.  Muhlenburg  by  Prof.  M.  L.  Stoever,  and 
the  biography  of  Dr.  Ezra  Keller  have  been  published  in 
books.  To  these  may  be  added  the  life  of  Rev.  M.  Officer 
who  was  for  many  years  a  minister  of  our  church.  If  there 
are  any  others  they  are  not  now  called  to  mind.  A  few  are 
known  to  be  in  course  of  preparation. 

This  poverty  of  biographical  literature  is  not  due  to  a  lack 
of  deserving  men.  We  have  had  many  men  more  worthy 
than  some  in  other  communions  who  have  been  thus  honored, 

(vii) 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

Able,  devout  and  eminently  useful  men  will  be  forgotten, 
not  only  in  the  church  they  seryed  but  in  the  communities 
where  they  wore  out  their  lives,  because  so  little  has  been 
done  to  keep  alive  the  memory  of  their  work. 

Nor  is  this  poverty  due  to  a  want  of  knowledge  of  the 
influence  of  such  literature.  We  find  biographies  in  the 
homes  of  the  people  of  other  churches.  We  have  biograph- 
ies of  statesmen  and  soldiers  and  authors.  Plutarch's  Lives 
has  long  been  a  classic,  and  has  been  read  by  the  young  for 
many  years.  All  of  us  have  been  deeply  interested  and 
influenced  by  this  class  of  books. 

Whatever  the  cause,  whether  from  modesty  or  want  of 
time,  or  want  of  encouragement,  the  fact  lemains.  This 
volume  will  do  something  towards  supplying  that  want.  It 
may  be  a  too  great  partiality  of  sons  for  a  sainted  father 
that  prompts  this  volume,  but,  if  a  mistake,  it  will  be  ex- 
cused, and  they  indulge  the  hope  that  it  may  excite  to  simi- 
lar effort  on  the  part  of  others  and  lead  to  a  literature  both 
in  extent  and  character  worthy  of  our  great  church. 

The  work  of  Dr.  A.J.  Fox  consisted  very  largely  of  a 
personal  influence  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  those  with 
whom  he  was  brought  into  contact.  He  was  not  an  author 
whose  book  might  be  read  and  mould  opinion  for  years  to 
come.  He  was  too  busy  to  write.  He  was  not  called  to 
organize  bodies  with  whose  destiny  his  name  and  character 
would  be  identified,  and  whose  existence  would  perpetuate 
his  opinions.  He  moulded  individuals,  and  his  influence  will 
be  preserved  in  these  living  channels.  Strong  as  was  the 
impression,  it  must  fade  away  from  the  memory  of  men  un- 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

less  gathered  into  some  permanent  centre.  This  biography 
will  do  something  towards  holding  the  stream  to  its  source 
and  become  a  new  fountain  from  which  may  continue  to 
flow  the  influence  so  powerful  while  its  subject  lived. 

His  life  extended  across  a  very  important  period  in  the 
history  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America.  At  the  time 
of  his  birth  the  church  was  very  small.  The  civil  govern- 
ment, regarded  by  many  as  an  experiment,  had  just  passed 
through  the  trial  of  an  important  war.  The  country  was 
still  new  and  full  of  enterprise.  While  the  State  and  busi- 
ness were  experimenting  with  new  measures  the  Church 
was  also  trying  new  methods.  Just  a  few  years  before  he 
was  born  the  first  revivals  were  held,  and  a  few  years  later 
the  General  Synod  was  formed  and  the  Tennessee  Synod 
organized.  In  the  General  Synod  there  were  different  ten- 
dencies. One  large  district  synod  was  impregnated  with 
Unitarianism.  There  was  some  Rationalistic  influences. 
The  Confessional  basis  is  proof  that  there  was  a  large  ele- 
ment of  doubt  in  respect  to  the  truth  of  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession. It  was  adopted  as  only  in  a  manner  substantially 
correct.  The  new  phase  of  Lutheranism  which  was  de- 
veloped in  it,  called  itself  American  Lutheranism,  and  at 
length  attempted  to  embody  itself  in  the  Definite  Synodical 
Platform  as  a  substitute  for  the  Augsburg  Confession. 
Amid  the  working  of  these  tendencies  he  was  born  and  his 
early  life  was  passed.  By  decided  principle,  as  well  as  by 
family  relationship,  he  was  connected  with  the  Tennessee 
Synod  which  planted  itself  firmly  upon  the  Augsburg  Con- 

fession  and  Luther's  Smaller  Catechism.     It  was  a  very 
1* 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

small  body.  For  twenty  years  it  was  composed  of  self-edu- 
cated men,  not  one  of  whom  had  ever  been  graduated  from 
either  a  college  or  theological  seminary.  The  churches 
were  scattered  over  four  States,  and  were  in  the  interior, 
not  one  being  found  in  any  city  or  large  town.  Yet  this 
little  body  was  called  by  Providence  to  be  the  custodian  of 
the  historic  Lutheran  faith  in  America.  They  were  op- 
posed and  maligned  by  the  denominations  around  them. 
They  were  misunderstood,  misrepresented  and  denounced 
by  Lutherans.  They  were  stigmatized  by  opprobrious 
epithets.  Lutheran  synods  in  grave  resolutions  condemned 
them  and  warned  the  public  against  them.  Good  men  like 
Dr.  Bachman  preached  and  published  sermons  in  opposition 
to  them.  They  were  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  religious 
nondescript.  Dr.  Fox  lived  through  that  period  when  it 
cost  something  to  be  a  Lutheran,  and  survived  it  long  enough 
to  hear  one  of  the  prominent  actors  in  the  opposition  say 
in  a  public  address,  "  I  am  heartily  ashamed  of  the  part  I 
took  in  those  proceedings."  This  biography  does  not  dis- 
cuss the  issues  of  that  day,  nor  was  its  author  called  upon 
to  delineate  minutely  the  struggle,  yet  it  will  do  something 
towards  preserving  historical  facts  that  should  not  be  for- 
gotten. 

The  synod  of  which  he  was  a  life-long  member  was  organ- 
ized at  a  time  and  under  circumstances  that  gave  a  narrow- 
ness to  its  operations.  For  this  there  was  a  reason  or  a 
purpose  to  be  accomplished.  The  activities  were  circum- 
scribed that  they  might  be  the  more  intense  within  the 
prescribed  sphere.     At  length  the  time  came  to  shake  oflf 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

the  bands  and  enter  upon  a  broader  field.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  to  recognize  the  change,  and  became  the  leader  in 
the  progressive  movement.  No  man  did  more  than  he  to 
place  the  work  of  missions,  education,  etc.,  in  the  hands  of 
the  Synod,  and  to  inaugurate  the  better  methods.  The  new 
Constitution  was  largely  his  work.  He  advocated  it,  and 
after  protracted  efibrts,  saw  it  adopted.  He  preached  the 
first  regular  missionary  sermon  ever  preached  before  the 
North  Carolina  Conference  of  the  Synod.  He  was  very 
active  in  beneficiary  education.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to 
open  Sunday-schools  in  his  church  What  the  Synod  is  to- 
day is  in  no  small  measure  due  to  him.  These  facts  are 
recorded  within  these  pages,  and  have  here  a  suitable 
memorial. 

A  self-made  man  who  rose  to  wide-extended  usefulness, 
his  life  is  an  encouragement  to  young  men  who  are  strug- 
gling against  adversity  seeking  a  sphere  where  they  can 
serve  more  successfully  their  fellowmen.  They  may  come 
to  these  pages  and  drink  in  a  new  inspiration.  Men  who 
knew  and  loved  him,  who  have  been  made  wiser  and  better 
by  him,  will  be  pleased  to  review  his  life  as  here  presented, 
and  point  their  children  and  friends  to  the  portraiture  of  one 
who  was  so  helpful  to  them.  The  hope  is  indulged  that 
strangers  may  draw  from  his  character  some  profitable 
lessons,  and  catching  something  of  his  pure  and  earnest  spirit, 
be  lifted  into  a  higher  and  better  life.  Those  who  have 
heard  him  from  the  pulpit  will  miss  in  his  sermons  the  pecu- 
liar power  that  impressed  them  as  his  words  came  fresh  and 
warm  from  his  lips,  yet  it  will  be  a  pleasure  and  profit  to 


XU  INTRODUCTION. 

read  the  discourses  embodied  here.  Those  who  did  not  hear 
him  cannot  know  from  these  what  he  was  as  a  preacher,  still 
they  may  see  something  of  the  cast  of  his  thought  and  find 
truth  worthy  a  careful  study. 

Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  this  volume,  the  character  it 
exhibits,  imprinted  upon  thousands  of  imperishable  hearts, 
will  not  die,  and  multitudes  will  rise  up  at  the  last  day  and 
call  him  blessed. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

I.  Childhood  and  Youth 15 

II.  His  Ministry 21 

in.  First  Ministerial  Work 27 

ly.  Return  to  North  Carolina 39 

Y.  Ministerial  Character 46 

YI.  History  in  the  Tennessee  Synod 55 

Vn.  Character  as  a  Physician 65 

VIII.  His  General  Character 69 

IX.  Close  of  Life 77 

(xiii) 


BIOGEAPHT 

OF 

Rey.  ALFRED  J.  FOX,  M.  D. 


CHAPTER  I. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

n^HE  family  of  Alfred  Fox  cannot  boast  of  a  celebrated 
-^  ancestry.  No  distinguished  persons  known  to  us 
come  in  his  lineal  descent.  Beyond  a  partial  obscure  his- 
tory of  the  German  settlements  in  Pennsylvania,  from  which 
he  sprang,  his  genealogy  is  unknown  to  those  now  living. 
Just  when  his  forefathers  crossed  the  Atlantic  cannot  be  as- 
certained. The  inference,  however,  is  easily  established, 
that,  in  the  opening  years  of  the  present  century,  an  event 
quietly  transpired  in  the  humble  home  of  one  of  these  Penn- 
sylvania Germans,  designed  in  the  providence  of  God  to 
mark  an  epoch  in  the  family  history.  The  mutual  affection 
of  David  Fox  and  Elizabeth  Moretz  called  together  a  small 
company,  we  imagine,  to  witness  the  consummation  of  their 
matrimonial  alliance.  The  idea  of  consistency  forbids  the 
imagination  that  their  marriage  took  place  amid  flourish  of 
trumpets  or  glaring  preparations,  but  with  German  simplicity. 
Mr.  Fox  was  a  farmer,  a  plain,  substantial,  industrious  young 
man.  His  chosen  companion  came  likewise  from  humble 
parentage,  some  of  whose  relations,  however,  were  minis- 

(XV) 


16  BIOGRAPHY   OF 

ters  of  the  Lutheran  church.  Soon  after  the  establishment 
of  this  relation,  they  settled  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 

On  September  6, 1817,  in  Chatham  county,  about  one-half 
of  a  mile  from  Staley  depot,  on  the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin 
Valley  Railroad,  Alfred  Fox,  their  oldest  son,  was  born.  In 
early  infancy,  his  pious  parents,  by  the  holy  sacrament  of 
baptism,  dedicated  him  to  God.  Rev.  Daniel  Graeber,  of  the 
Lutheran  church,  administered  the  ordinance.  At  the  age  of 
one  and  a  half  years  his  father  moved  to  a  farm  which  he  had 
purchased  on  Sandey  creek,  in  Randolph  county.  Here  he 
received  his  youthful  training  and  education.  Here,  in  after 
years,  his  fondest  memories  found  an  asylum  of  rest  from 
the  buffetings  and  troubles  of  life.  Here  his  heart  held 
silent  communions  with  childhood's  home  and  mother.  Here 
in  the  cemetery  of  the  family  church  repose  the  ashes  of 
those  who  had  watched  over  his  fragile  infancy  and  guided 
safely  his  youthful  steps.  The  home  of  his  boyhood  still 
stands  unchanged,  surrounded  as  then  with  quiet  scenes  and 
silent  shades.  From  this  house  his  mother  passed  into  eter- 
nity in  1853,  and  his  father  in  1880,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  eighty-nine. 

The  paternal  impressions  made  upon  his  youthful  mind 
were  those  of  honesty,  simplicity,  and  integrity  of  charac- 
ter. He  was  taught  to  spurn  that  which  was  low  and  de- 
grading, and  to  cultivate  a  healthy  and  helpful  manhood. 
He  was  made  to  see  the  dignity  of  labor — labor  of  the  hands 
and  of  the  head.  Into  his  soul  was  instilled  the  principles  of 
truthfulness  and  candor.  His  heart  was  filled  with  love  for 
the  good  and  true,  and  made  uncompromising  with  evil. 
His  plain  German  home  did  not  afifoid  the  cultivation  of  the 
finer  and  higher  ideas  of  social  culture,  but  he  did  not  fail 
to  have  inculcated  deeply  the  stronger  and  hardier  elements 
of  vigorous  manhood.     These  are  after  all  the  solid  mater- 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  17 

ials  of  enduring  character,  and  last  when  the  glare  and  de- 
ception of  the  world's  refinement  fade. 

The  impressions  made  upon  him  by  his  mother  were  par- 
ticularly lasting  and  ennobling.  From  her  came  the  tender 
and  mellowing  influences  upon  his  life.  She  was  a  truly 
good  woman,  and  did  much  to  shape  the  moral  and  spiritual 
life  of  her  son.  The  lessons  she  taught  were  the  weapons 
with  which  he  first  met  life's  conflicts,  and  gave  him  victory. 
Her  influence  followed  him  consciously  through  the  morn- 
ing, noontide,  and  sunset  of  life.  Even  when  he  stood  at 
the  foot  of  the  sunny  slope  of  years,  on  the  brink  of  the 
grave,  he  repeated  with  smiles  the  lessons  taught  him  in 
childhood  by  his  mother,  her  anecdotes,  with  their  morals. 

The  only  education  he  received  was  at  the  common 
schools  of  his  neighborhood,  and  afterwards  by  his  own  ac- 
quisition. He  attended  school  in  the  winter,  and  worked 
upon  the  farm  in  the  summer.  From  the  teacher  he  learned 
his  first  lessons  in  English,  being  able  beforehand  to  speak 
easily  only  the  German.  Until  then,  as  he  often  said,  he 
disliked  very  much  to  hold  conversation  with  an  Englislier. 
His  recitations  at  school  were  in  both  languages.  In  after 
life,  he  was  only  associated  with  those  speaking  English, 
and  his  memory  of  German  largely  faded.  He  never 
preached  but  one  German  discourse.  His  use  of  English  in 
private  conversation  and  in  the  pulpit  was  so  fluent,  easy 
and  accurate,  that  one  could  not  tell  that  his  tongue  was 
ever  accustomed  to  anything  else. 

The  names  of  his  teachers  are  not  at  command,  but  from 
others  we  learn  that  he  was  an  apt  pupil,  of  quick  percep- 
tion, and  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities.  Among  his 
schoolmates  were  Israel  Fox,  his  cousin,  a  young  man  of 
fine  talent,  who  died  about  the  time  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  and  Rev.  Dr.  S.  Y.  McMasters  of  the  Episcopal  church. 


18  BIOGRAPHY   OP 

But  the  education  which  was  of  the  highest  utility  to  him 
was  acquired  by  self-efforts.  He  gained  as  far  as  possible 
for ,  him,  the  highest  conception  of  English  and  German 
literature.  And  not  satisfied  with  this,  he  secured  without 
aid  a  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek.  This  knowledge  was 
extensive  and  accurate  enough  to  enable  him  not  only  to 
give  proper  pronunciation  to  the  desired  quotations,  but  to 
correctly  translate  the  languages.  He  was  consequently 
vastly  assisted  in  his  study  of  Exegesis.  He  frequently  ap- 
pealed from  the  pulpit  before  learned  audiences  to  the  origi- 
nal Greek  of  the  Scriptures.  His  last  sermon  contained  an 
accurate  criticism  of  1  John  v.  7.  In  speaking  of  his  edu- 
cation, we  cannot  forbear  mentioning  his  remarkable  vocabu- 
lary of  English  words.  Synonyms  with  him  were  abundant. 
His  idea  of  their  different  shades  of  signification  was  so  ac- 
curate that  he  could  successfully  discuss  them  with  those 
who  had  received  collegiate  training.  So  abundant  was  his 
fund  of  words,  that  when  in  animated  discourse  their  super- 
fluity troubled  him.  This  use  of  his  adopted  tongue  as  well 
as  all  other  knowledge  came  through  extensive  reading  until 
late  hours  at  night,  and  in  leisure  moments  by  day,  when 
sitting  alone  or  traveling.  Sometimes  when  riding  his  inter- 
est in  reading  was  so  intense  that  he  did  not  perceive  the 
passing  of  persons  until  looking  back  he  saw  them  going  in 
an  opposite  direction. 

In  his  seventeeth  year  he  attended  Richland's  church 
near  his  father's  home  to  receive  catechetical  instructions. 
Rev.  Philip  Henkel  catechised  the  first  day,  but  he  became 
sick  and  died  shortly  afterwards.  Rev.  Henry  Goodman 
finished  the  school,  and  confirmed  him  in  the  faith  in  which 
he  lived  consistently  in  after  life,  for  which  he  so  earnestly 
contended,  and  in  which  he  died.  The  beginning  of  his 
Christian  life,  and  preparation  for  eternity  he  ever  dated 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  19 

from  his  confirmation  in  the  church  of  his  fathers.  The 
vows  then  plighted  with  his  Creator  were  never  forgotten. 
The  confession  of  Christ  then  made  with  his  mouth  was  the 
commencement  and  pledge  of  that  same  confession  4n  his 
heart  and  life.  His  character  as  a  youth  was  exceptionally 
good.  He  not  only  lived  a  pious  life,  but  even  in  early 
boyhood  rebuked  immoral  conduct  in  others.  His  presence 
was  a  safeguard  and  stay  against  immoderate  levity  and 
vulgarity.  He  had  the  moral  courage  not  to  allow  profanity 
to  go  unreproved.  His  rebukes  of  sinners  were  administered 
without  a  care  of  the  possibility  of  subsequent  offense.  This 
however  did  not  cause  a  want  of  friends.  If  it  caused  cold- 
ness, his  enemies  were  soon  regained  by  kind  treatment. 
From  this,  the  inference  might  be  drawn  that  he  was  always 
serious,  distant  with  associates,  and  possessed  of  a  solemn 
bearing.  He  was  on  the  contrary  full  of  life  and  play,  but 
altogether  of  an  innocent  character.  He  was  a  great  tease 
to  his  friends  and  companions,  and  at  work  or  play  led  the 
balance  of  the  crowd.  In  his  boyhood  days,  wild  game  in 
his  section  was  plentiful.  He  loved  the  chase,  and  his 
stories  of  hunting  with  his  father  were  full  of  interest.  He 
was  in  youth,  as  well  as  in  busy  years,  of  a  happy  mind,  and 
enjoyed  life. 

When  he  was  seventeen  years  old  he  began  teaching 
school.  One  who  was  once  his  pupil  thus  testifies,  in  a  re- 
cent letter,  of  him  in  this  capacity  :  "  My  first  recollection 
of  your  father  was  while  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  his 
first  school,  which  I  attended.  He  taught  two  or  three 
schools  near  my  father's  home,  to  which  I  went.  He  was 
a  good  teacher  and  highly  respected  as  such  by  all  his  pa- 
trons." He  taught  many  other  schools  in  NorthCarolina, 
Tennessee  and  Alabama  as  financial  auxiliaries  to  the  meagre 
incomes  from  his  ministry. 


20  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

The  traits  specially  manifest  in  his  teaching  were  more 
than  ordinary  aptness  to  communicate,  ability  to  secure  the 
confidence  and  interest  of  those  under  his  tutorship,  and 
splend!d  executive  endowments.  In  this,  as  well  as  in  every 
other  business,  he  exerted  himself,  not  "  for  filthy  lucre's 
sake,"  but  for  the  consciousness  of  duty  discharged,  and  the 
satisfaction  of  success.  He  had  an  abiding  interest  in  all 
under  his  instructions,  and  labored  for  their  mental  and 
moral  culture,  to  the  gratification  of  parents  and  guardians. 
"With  special  gifts  for  teaching  and  by  their  faithful  exer- 
cise, he  was  eminently  successful. 

At  this  point,  it  will  not  be  inappropriate  to  mention  the 
members  of  Dr.  Fox's  family  and  his  relatives  with  whom 
the  public  is  acquainted.  Rev.  Christian  Moretz  was  his 
mother's  brother,  and  Rev.  Daniel  Moser  married  her  sister. 
Rev.  T.  Moser  and  Rev.  M.  L.  Fox,  M.  D.,  are  cousins. 
Rev.  P.  C.  Henkel,  D.  D.,  of  Conover,  N.  C,  married  his 
oldest  sister,  and  the  late  Rev.  Thos.  Grouse,  his  youngest 
sister.  Revs.  J.  C.  and  J.  F.  Moser,  are  second  cousins. 
Rev.  D.  E.  Fox,  deceased,  a  nephew.  Rev.  Luther  A. 
Fox,  D.  D.,  of  Roanoke  College,  Va.,  is  his  oldest  son,-  and 
Rev.  Junius  B.  Fox,  of  Tennessee,  his  fourth  son.  Albert 
C.  Fox,  M.  D.,  a  physician  commanding  a  large  practice,  at 
Waynesboro',  Va. ;  J.  Frank  Fox^  M.  D.,  near  Lincolnton, 
N.  C,  and  Claude  P.  Fox  at  the  University  of  Va.,  in  the 
Medical  Department,  are  also  his  sons. 

The  casual  statement  may  not  be  without  interest,  that, 
the  letter  J.  in  his  name  is  an  addition  by  himself.  Soon 
after  entering  the  ministry,  the  notice  of  a  ministerial  act  in 
the  public  press  contained  the  grammatical  monstrosity  that 
the  ceremony  was  pronounced  by  "a  fox."  Seeing  this,  he 
ever  afterwards,  it  is  said,  subscribed  himself  A,  J.  Fox, 


CHAPTER  II. 

HIS  MINISTRY. 

TO  preach  the  gospel  was  his  life-purpose — his  chief  work. 
The  other  professions  in  which  he  engaged  were  sub- 
servient to  his  ministry.  To  this  end  he  believed  he  was 
born,  and  to  this  mission  in  life  he  devoted  his  highest  ener- 
gies and  native  resources.  If  any  business  had  to  suffer 
from  neglect  it  was  never  his  ministry.  If  the  summons  to 
the  Master's  work  in  the  synod  or  elsewhere  required  an 
absence  of  days  or  weeks  from  his  practice  of  medicine  in 
the  busiest  seasons,  that  summons  was  always  obeyed. 

The  determination  to  offer  himself  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry  was  formed  in  early  childhood.  He  did  not  remem- 
ber when  that  purpose  was  awakened.  In  coming  to  this 
high  work  he  was  not  pained  by  mental  struggles  against  it. 
In  his  pillow  was  no  thorn  of  indecision.  When  he  reached 
the  years  of  conscious  thought  and  reflection,  he  gave  him- 
self up  fully  consecrated  to  the  purpose  that  had  filled  his 
heart.  God  had  impressed  his  youthful  mind  in  some  way, 
and  led  him  to  the  highest  service  of  life.  The  providential 
means  through  which  this  impression  was  made  were  perhaps 
the  facts  that  two  of  his  uncles  were  ministers,  and  the  fre- 
quent presence  of  Rev.  David  Henkel  at  his  father's  house. 
He  distinctly  remembered  the  appearance  and  conversations 
of  this  leading  spirit  in  the  Tennessee  synod,  then  newly 
organized.  The  tide  of  animosity  between  this  new  synod 
and  the  North  Carolina  synod  was  then  at  high  water  mark, 
and  Rev.  Henkel  spent  days  at  a  time  at  this  house  discuss- 

(31) 


22  BIOGRAPHY   OF 

ing  the  doctrinal  and  personal  difficulties  that  then  existed. 
From  these  visits,  perhaps  more  than  from  any  other  source, 
came  the  influences  that  shaped  his  resolution  to  labor  in  the 
Lord's  vineyard.  The  manifestation  of  this  purpose,  how- 
ever, met  with  opposition  from  his  father.  The  objections 
were  not  to  the  work  itself,  nor  his  son's  adaptation  to  it, 
provided  the  requisite  education  and  training  could  be  re- 
ceived. In  this  last  idea  his  father  conceived  to  lie  the  chief 
difficulty.  Convinced  that  thorough  literary  and  theological 
culture  is  necessary  to  the  successful  accomplishment  of  so 
high  a  calling,  he  felt  financially  incapable  to  thus  prepare 
him  for  it.  We  do  not  know  that  he  attempted  to  obstruct 
his  son's  aspiration  with  the  common  allegation  that  the  min- 
istry is  an  humble  work,  bearing  on  its  very  countenance  the 
outlines  of  poverty.  His  opposition  was  not  violent  enough 
for  such  a  plea.  But  whatever  may  have  been  its  nature  or 
extent,  and  whatever  anxious  inquiry  it  may  have  aroused, 
the  determination  of  the  young  heart  was  too  firm  and  reso- 
lute to  be  moved  or  resigned.  Mountains  of  discourage- 
ments lay  before  him,  but  he  bravely  dared  to  overcome 
them.  The  high  purpose  was  fixed;  his  heart  ceased  not 
to  throb  with  the  strong  resolve  to  obey  the  call  of  his 
Master:  "  Son,  go  work  to  day  in  my  vineyard." 

Early  in  his  nineteenth  year,  he  went  to  the  house  of  his 
uncle.  Rev.  D.  Moser,  and  under  his  direction  commenced 
the  study  of  theology.  He  had  here  chiefly  German  works, 
studying  Reinhardt,  and  the  Book  of  Concord  especially. 
His  preceptor  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  Dogmatic 
Theology  ;  and  his  wife  was  quite  as  thorough  in  this  great 
science  as  himself.  During  his  absence,  when  the  young 
theologues  became  perplexed  and  entangled  with  the  myster- 
ies of  divinity,  they  took  their  theological  problems  to  their 
landlady,  and  always  obtained  satisfactory  solutions.     The 


23 

practical  wisdom  and  fatherly  counsel  which  the  young 
candidate  here  received  were  salutary  and  helpful.  Among 
much  other  advice,  he  never  forgot  this  remark  of  his  pre- 
ceptor: "Let  every  man's  bed  fit  your  back,  and  every 
man's  table  your  appetite." 

In  his  twentieth  year,  on  June  18,  1837,  while  pursuing 
this  course  of  studies,  he  preached  his  first  sermon  from 
Romans  5th  chapter  and  18th  verse,  in  Zion's  church, 
Catawba  county,  North  Carolina. 

The  Tennessee  Synod  met  in  1837,  (September  11-14) 
in  Koiner's  church,  Augusta  county,  Virginia.  He,  with 
Rev.  H.  Goodman  and  several  others,  went  out  on  horse- 
back. At  this  convention  he  was  ordained  deacon.  Until 
1866,  the  ministers  of  this  Synod  were  classified  as  pastors 
and  deacons.  In  an  early  revision  of  its  first  constitution, 
the  duties  of  each  class  are  described:  "  The  grades  of  the 
ministry  are  two:  viz.  pastor  and  deacon;  or  as  St.  Paul 
calls  them,  bishop  and  deacon.  They  must  possess  the 
qualifications  as  described,  1  Tim.  iii.  2-14,  Tit.  i.  4-9.  A 
pastor  performs  every  ministerial  act ;  but  a  deacon  is  only 
to  baptize,  catechise  and  to  preach.  A  deacon  must  be 
called  to  this  office  by  one  or  more  congregations,  and  be 
under  the  care  of  a  pastor,  or  of  the  Synod."*  This  classi- 
fication was  set  aside  by  the  session  in  1866.  The  constitu- 
tion adopted  then  says :  "  This  synod  shall  be  composed  of 
regularly  ordained  ministers  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
church,  and  lay-delegates. "f  The  grade  of  deacon  is  here 
omitted.  The  clerical  register  of  the  minutes  of  '66  is  com- 
posed of  ministers  and  "Licentiates." 

In  compliance  with  the  first  constitution,  petitions  were 

*  Minutes  Tenn.  Synod,  1827,  p.  22,  Article  VI.  Constitution, 
f  Minutes  1866,  p.  6,  Article  III.  Constitution. 


24  BIOGRAPHY   OP 

presented  in  1837  by  "  Richland's,  Coble's  and  School-house 
churches,  in  Randolph,  Orange,  and  Guilford  counties, 
N.  C,"  and  one  from  St.  Peter's  church,  Lincoln  county 
N.  C,  praying  for  his  ordination  as  deacon."*  With  several 
other  candidates  for  the  offices  of  pastor  and  deacon  he  was 
examined ;  and  "  they  were  considered  well  qualified  to  dis- 
charge their  duties."  A  unanimous  resolution  was  passed 
for  their  ordination.  His  examination  was  very  creditable, 
and  gave  promise  of  great  usefulness.  Rev.  Ambrose 
Henkel,  of  New  Market,  Va.,  "  delivered  a  very  interesting 
and  appropriate  ordination  sermon,  in  the  English  language, 
from  2  Cor.  iii.  6,  whereupon  the  candidates  were  ordained 
by  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  prayer."  f  During  this  meet- 
ing he  preached  one  evening.  His  text  was  Luke  ii.  10-11. 
Young,  diffident,  and  speaking  in  a  poorly  lighted  room,  he 
did  not  succeed  well,  and  many  persons  thought  he  had  mis- 
taken his  calling.  His  examination  on  the  following  day, 
however,  gave  promise  of  better  things.  Very  soon  after 
this  he  accepted  a  call  to  a  widely  scattered  charge  in  North 
Carolina.  He  had  churches  in  Stanley,  Union,  Cabarrus 
and  Mecklenburg  counties,  and  one  across  the  State  line  in 
South  Carolina.  He  labored  here  very  energetically  and 
successfully  until  the  next  session  of  synod  at  Salem  church, 
Lincoln  county,  N.  C,  when  he  was  ordained  pastor.  Its 
sessions  were  held  from  the  10th  to  the  14th  of  September, 
1838.  On  page  8  of  the  minutes  we  find  the  following 
resolution : 

"Whereas,  Various  petitions  have  been  laid  before  this 
body,  giving  Messrs.  Jacob  Stirewalt  and  Alfred  J.  Fox  a 
good  recommendation  as  promising  young  men,  being  both 
morally  and  intellectually  qualified  to  bear  the  office  of  the 

*  Minutes  1837,  p.  7. 
f  Minutes  1837,  p.  11. 


[.  D.  26 

ministry,  and  to  perform  every  ministerial  function;  and 
praying  that  they  may  be  promoted  to  the  highest  grade  in 
the  ministry,  therefore. 

Resolved^  That  they  be  examined  on  to-morrow  morning, 
with  regard  to  their  qualifications  to  bear  the  office  of  the 
ministry,  and  if  considered  competent,  they  be  ordained." 

On  Wednesday  at  9  a.  m.,  Sept.  12,  1838,  the  examina- 
tion began,  and  occupied  the  morning  session.  "-It  was 
conducted  by  different  members  of  the  synod ;  every  mem- 
ber being  permitted  to  propose  such  questions  as  they 
thought  proper.  The  candidates  during  their  examination 
evinced,  by  their  pertinent  and  judicious  answers,  that  they 
had  made  considerable  proficiency  in  the  acquisition  of  theo- 
logical knowledge ;  so  much  so,  that  they  gave  universal 
satisfaction,  and  were  considered  fully  competent  to  perform 
every  ministerial  function.  Therefore,  on  motion,  it  was 
unanimously  Besolved,  That  they  be  ordained  pastors,  on 
to-morrow.* 

On  Sept.  loth.  Rev.  George  Easterly  of  Greene  county, 
Tenn.,  preached  the  ordination  discourse  from  Ephesians  vi. 
10-17  verses.  "After  which  Messrs.  Jacob  Stirewalt  and 
A.  J.  Fox,  the  candidates  for  ordination,  were  solemnly  set 
apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  by  the  imposition  of  hands 
and  prayer,  "t 

For  the  ordination  and  services  of  Mr.  Fox,  petitions  from 
many  churches  were  presented  to  this  synod.  They  came 
not  only  from  the  people  to  whom  he  preached  the  previous 
year  but  from  others.  Perhaps  no  one  ever  came  before 
the  Tennessee  Synod  more  highly  recommended  than  he. 
Expressions  of  gratification  for  his  labors  came  up  from 
many  hearts.     In  this  fact,  we  have  positive  manifestation 


*  ]\Iin.  Tenn.  Synod,  1838,  p.  9. 
f  Same  Min.,  p.  11. 


26  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

of  the  call  of  the  Master.  The  following  resolution  was 
adopted  by  the  synod  at  which  he  was  ordained  :  "  Besolved, 
That,  inasmuch  as  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Fox  has  expressed  a 
willingness  to  serve  the  petitioners  from  Morning  Star, 
Bethlehem,  Union,  St.  Martin's  and  Flat  Rock  churches,  he 
be  recommended  to  take  them  under  his  pastoral  supervis- 
ion, and  devote  as  much  of  his  time  to  them  as  possible." 
These  churches  were  in  connection  with  a  few  others  he 
had  served  the  previous  year,  and  he  now  accepts  their  call 
for  an  indefinite  period. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FIRST   MINISTERIAL   WORK. 

THE  first  charge  of  Rev.  Mr.  Fox  after  his  ordination  as 
pastor  consisted  of  five  churches,  scattered  over  an  im- 
mense territory.  His  home  was  near  Coburn's  Store, 
Mecklenburg  county,  N.  C.  He  entered  upon  the  work  full 
of  zeal  and  holy  consecration.  He  gave  full  proof  of  his 
ministry,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  future  success.  He 
labored  here  for  four  years  with  remarkable  energy  and  the 
highest  devotion  to  the  Avork.  During  this  time  he  preached 
308  sermons,  confirmed  153  persons,  baptized  154  infants 
and  adults,  and  rode  thousands  of  miles.  He  preached  the 
first  year  117  sermons,  an  average  of  a  little  more  than  two 
a  week.  He  travelled  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  crossed 
dangerous  streams,  riding  a  vicious  horse,  but  meeting 
promptly  all  his  appointments.  He  catechised  much,  con- 
ceiving this  to  be  the  true  method  of  winning  souls  for 
Christ  and  bringino;  them  into  the  church  of  the  Reforma- 
tion.  He  believed  it  to  be  essentially  necessary  that  all  ap- 
plicants for  church  membership  be  instructed  (catechised) 
in  the  doctrines  of  our  holy  religion.  He  was  convinced 
that  this  was  the  truly  Lutheran  custom  of  adding  to  our 
numbers,  and  that  wherever  it  fell  into  disuse,  the  church 
languished.  He  offered  the  standing  resolutions  in  the 
Tennessee  Synod,  making  it  obligatory  upon  her  pastors  to 
catechise  the  young  people  of  their  churches  previous  to 
their  confirmation.  True  to  his  convictions  of  duty  in  this 
matter,  he  spent  much  time  in  carefully  training  children 

(27) 


28  BIOGRAPHY   OP 

and  adults  in  the  faith  of  the  church.  And  the  seeds  of 
truth  which  he  implanted  in  tender  hearts  and  consciences 
yielded  a  vast  harvest  of  good.  The  last  work  he  ever 
rendered  the  Master  was  catechising  a  class  of  adults  in  one 
of  his  churches. 

On  October  d,  1838,  he  confirmed  his  first  class  of  cate- 
chumen, consisting  of  19  persons,  in  Savage's  church, 
Rowan  county,  N.  C. 

In  the  work  of  his  first  charge  he  was  eminently  success- 
ful. Many  souls  were  added  to  the  church,  some  of  whom 
were  heads  of  families,  and  some  old  persons.  As  an 
instructor  of  the  young  he  was  peculiarly  gifted,  illustrating 
the  truths  he  set  forth  by  appropriate  anecdotes  and  inter- 
esting narratives.  As  a  preacher  he  was  earnest,  eloquent 
and  pathetic.  As  a  pastor  he  was  congenial  and  beloved. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  a  diligent  student,  reading  as  he 
rode  on  horseback  and  wherever  he  stopped. 

The  devotion  of  his  people  was  gratifying,  and  may  be 
seen  in  one  instance.  About  twenty  families  from  one  of 
his  congregations  in  Stanley  county  went  in  a  colony  to  x\r- 
kansas.  They  offered  to  bear  all  his  expenses,  give  him  a 
home,  and  guarantee  him  a  comfortable  living  if  he  went 
with  them.  Petitions  and  letters  were  sent  to  Synod  for  his 
services  and  expressing  gratitude  for  his  ministerial  labors. 
His  popularity  extended  in  all  directions.  He  received  calls 
from  many  places,  one  of  which  was  from  the  charge 
made  vacant  by  the  death  of  his  preceptor  in  theology, 
Rev.  Daniel  Moser,  in  1839. 

The  great  work  of  several  years  began  to  wear  upon  his 
health,  and  at  the  close  of  1841  he  was  under  the  necessity 
of  resigning.  He  retired  to  a  farm  given  by  his  father  near 
Asheboro,  in  Randolph  county.  During  this  year  he 
preached  occasionally  to  vacant  congregations,  or  as  often 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  29 

as  his  health  permitted,  and  visited  the  churches  in  Greene 
county,  Tennessee.  He  was  married  April  5th,  1842,  to 
Miss  Lydia  Best,  of  Cabarrus  county.  Leaving  his  farm 
in  the  charge  of  his  brother  he  again  visited  with  his  bride 
the  congregations  in  Greene  county,  Tennessee.  He  spent 
several  weeks  preaching  and  catechising  for  them.  In  these 
few  weeks  he  performed  some  of  the  most  successful  church 
work  of  his  life.  At  two  churches,  within  five  miles  of  each 
other,  he  confirmed  74  persons  after  catechising  for  several 
days  previous.  Large  numbers  were  confirmed  at  other 
places  that  he  visited.  Many  of  the  most  substantial  mem- 
bers of  those  churches  to-day  were  brought  into  them  during 
this  visit.  The  confirmation  of  those  classes  is  spoken  of  to 
this  day. 

He  visited  these  churches  again  in  1843.  He  remained, 
however,  on  his  farm  in  North  Carolina  until  1844,  when,  his 
health  having  been  fully  restored,  he  accepted  the  oft-re- 
peated call  to  Tennessee.  He  preached  his  introductory 
sermon  in  his  new  charge  at  Blue  Spring  church,  March 
24th,  1844.  He  preache'd  at  first  to  three  churches — Blue 
Spring,  Sinking  Spring,  Cove  Creek,  and  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Michael  Ottinger,  near  which  the  present  large  church 
of  the  Salem  congregation  was  erected.  He  located  in 
Greene  county  about  one  mile  northeast  of  the  present  village 
of  Midway.  To  his  nearest  church  was  three  miles,  and 
his  farthest  eighteen.  He  went  earnestly  to  work.  He 
preached  often,  and  added  large  numbers  to  the  church.  He 
confirmed  at  Blue  Spring  alone  in  the  few  years  of  his  min- 
istry one  hundred  and  twenty-five  members.  Many  of  the 
sermons  he  preached  then  are  remembered  and  spoken  of  as 
remarkably  thoughtful  and  powerful.  His  influence  ex- 
tended far  and  wide.  The  indifferent  were  aroused,  the 
hostile   made  friends  to  the  faith,  and  the  whole  church, 


3U  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

which  had  been  languishing  for  years,  awoke  from  her  slum- 
bers and  put  on  her  robes  of  light.  He  was  loved  and 
reverenced  by  these  people  as  long  as  he  lived.  People  of 
other  creeds  went  far  and  near  to  hear  him  preach.  His 
congregations  were  always  large  and  attentive.  Forty 
years  after  he  left  Tennessee  the  churches  pressed  upon  him 
a  call,  and  waited  almost  a  year  until  he  could  decide  one 
of  the  most  perplexing  problems  of  his  life. 

During  his  ministry  in  Greene  county  an  event  took  place 
to  which  attaches  no  little  interest  and  importance.  Method- 
ism in  this  section  was  then  in  its  highest  glory.  Several 
large  churches  were  here,  where  none  are  now.  The  great 
spirit  of  those  churches  was  Dr.  Wyatt,  a  minister  and  a 
physician.  In  preaching  a  reply  to  a  sermon  by  Rev.  Adam 
Miller,  jr.,  who  had  returned  from  a  visit  here  to  his  home  in 
North  Carolina,  he  gave  utterance  to  grave  calumnies  against 
the  Lutheran  church. 

In  criticising  Luther's  Commentary  on  the  text:  "  Cursed 
is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree,"  in  which  Luther  as- 
serts that  Christ  died  the  greatest 'sinner  of  mankind  because 
of  the  assumption  of  human  sin.  Dr.  Wyatt  said :  "  Shame 
on  you  Lutherans  that  teach  such  damnable  heresies!" 
Similar  charges  were  made  in  the  same  discourse.  The 
members  of  the  Lutheran  church,  and  tlie  friends  of  Rev. 
Miller  advised  him  of  these  facts.  Rev.  Miller  did  not  come 
to  Tennessee,  but  suggested  to  them  that  they  get  Rev.  Mr. 
Fox  to  defend  the  Lutheran  faith  against  such  serious 
aspersions. 

Being  then  only  a  young  man,  naturally  averse  to  contro- 
versy, Mr.  Fox  entered  upon  the  debate  for  no  self-aggran- 
dizement, but  from  convictions  of  duty  to  the  church.  Com- 
ing from  such  source,  he  knew  that  if  the  charges  were  not 
answered   that  Lutheranism  in  this  locality  would  suffer. 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  31 

An  appointment  was  made  for  him  to  make  his  reply.  It  is 
thought  that  a  thousand  or  more  people  were  present. 
After  finishing  his  discourse,  in  Avhich  he  had  completely 
refuted  the  position  of  the  Methodistic  aggressor,  and  firmly 
established  the  Lutheran  faith,  he  asked  whether  Dr.  Wyatt 
was  present.  He  had  not  yet  made  his  acquaintance.  A 
gentleman  in  the  audience  arose  and  replied  affirmatively. 
Dr.  Wyatt  came  forward  to  meet  him  on  the  stand  erected 
in  the  grove.  So  confused  and  nervous  Avas  the  Doctor  that 
when  attempting  to  lift  a  glass  of  water  to  his  lips  it  spat- 
tered over  the  floor.  Dr.  Wyatt  asserted  that  he  had  not 
made  the  charges  against  the  Lutheran  church  to  which 
Rev.  Mr.  Fox  had  that  day  replied.  Mr.  Fox  immediately 
agreed  that  another  day  be  appointed  when  they  would  meet 
and  determine  that  matter.  Caney  Branch  was  appointed 
as  the  place.  Mr.  Fox  again  preached  ;  and  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  his  remarks  exhibited  to  Dr.  Wyatt  an  affidavit 
signed  by  thirty  men,  some  of  whom  were  members  of  the 
Methodist  church,  certifying  that  he  had  made  the  charge  at 
the  time  and  place  at  first  alleged.  When  he  asked  Dr. 
Wyatt  whether  he  could  now  deny  that  he  had  made  the 
charge,  he  replied :  "No,  I  cannot ;  those  are  the  names 
of  my  fellow-citizens."  The  Doctor  became  so  mortified 
over  his  defeat  and  the  serious  dilemma  into  which  he  had 
placed  himself  that  he  soon  afterwards  disposed  of  his  pro- 
perty and  left  for  a  distant  region. 

After  two  years  the  time  for  another  removal  came.  He 
had  consummated  the  purpose  of  God,  and  providence  was 
pointing  elsewhere.  The  relation  between  himself  and  his 
flock  had  been  pleasant  and  profitable,  and  many  were  the 
mutual  regrets  over  his  departure.  The  immediate  causes 
of  his  resignation  were  failures  of  efforts  to  invest  his  means, 
some  of  them  just  as  they  were  about  to  be  consummated. 


32  BIOGRAPHY   OF 

No  less  than  three  such  futile  efforts  were  made.  When 
the  contracts  were  agreed  to,  and  he  was  about  to  furnish 
the  money  the  parties  declined.  In  one  instance,  the  man 
with  whom  he  attempted  to  trade  was  an  elder  of  the 
Lutheran  church.  Another  cause  of  his  removal  is  a  com- 
mon one.  The  people  failed  to  comply  with  their  promises 
of  salary.  They  offered  $200 ;  and  paid  §180  the  first 
year,  and  $l-iO  the  second.  Such  retrogression  is  not  a  rare 
occurence  in  many  places  to-day.  It  is  a  fruitful  cause  of 
vacancies. 

The  call  came  from  the  church  at  Jacksonville,  Alabama  ; 
and  coming  when  it  did,  he  regarded  it  as  an  indication  from 
the  Head  of  the  Church  that  he  should  accept.  An  oppor- 
tunity was  here  offered  for  investing  some  money  which  he 
had  inherited,  as  well  as  serving  a  promising  congregation. 

Rev.  J.  K.  Hancher,  who  had  been  his  student  in  theol- 
ogy, became  his  successor  in  Tennessee. 

A  number  of  Lutheran  families  from  Lincoln  county, 
N.  C,  had  located  in  Jacksonville,  Ala.,  the  county  seat  of 
Benton  (now  Calhoun)  county,  in  the  northeastern  portion 
of  the  State.  It  was  a  growing  town  in  a  fertile  country. 
He  located  on  a  farm  and  preached  to  the  congregation  in 
town.  As  there  was  no  Lutheran  church,  he  preached  in 
the  Presbyterian  church,  which  was  generously  loaned  him. 
His  work  in  the  ministry  at  this  place  was  brief.  At  the 
end  of  one  year  he  resigned,  because  he  believed  that  one 
of  his  prominent  members  attempted  to  take  advantage  of 
his  supposed  ignorance  of  business  and  defraud  him  of  sev- 
eral hundred  dollars.  There  was  also  a  division  in  the  con- 
gregation as  to  the  place  to  erect  the  new  church.  The 
members  in  the  country  wished  it  built  in  the  country,  and 
those  in  Jacksonville  in  town.  Immediately  after  his  resig- 
nation he  made  efforts  to  secure  a  pastorate  elsewhere.    He 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  33 

rode  on  horseback  through  parts  of  Kentucky,  Missouri  and 
Illinois  in  search  of  work.     In  the  record  of  his  sermons  we 
learn  that  he  preached  in  several  diflferent  States  within  a 
few  days  of  each  other.     But  failing  to  secure  a  suitable 
location,  and  having  his  money  invested  so  that  he  could  not 
arrange  to  leave  it,  he  was  compelled  to  remain  in  Alabama 
for  a  time  at  least.     As  a  mere  matter  of  useful  information 
he  began  the  study  of  medicine.     We  may  easily  imagine 
how,  when  suffering  from  an  attack  of  dyspepsia  brought  on 
by  anxious  thought  over  his  unnatural  position,  he  may  have 
been  listlessly  looking  over  his  library,  when  his  eye  per- 
chance fell  upon  some  medical  work,  which  he  hauls  from 
the  shelf,  and  begins  to  peruse.     An  unsuspected  interest 
and  fascination  seizes  him.     The   next  day   the  process  is 
repeated  ;    the  same  book  is  read.     Finally  the  whole  vol- 
ume is  finished.     The  conclusion  is  formed  that  perhaps  if 
he   were  denied  the  pleasure  of  administering  to  the  wants 
of  men's  souls,  he  could  relieve  the  pains  of  their  bodies. 
There  may   have  been  even  an  innate  consciousness  of  an 
adaptation  to  the  medical  profession,  and  of  success  in  it. 
A  year  passed.    Finding  that  he  was  compelled  to  remain, 
and  having  become  deeply  interested  in  his  new  studies,  he 
placed  himself  under  the   instruction  of  Drs.  Francis  and 
Clark  at  Jacksonville.     Dr.  Clark  had  been  for  a  quarter  of 
a  century  or  more  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physicians 
of  his  State.     Still  another  year  passed,  and  he  determined 
to  attend  medical  lectures  at  the  college  in  Augusta,  Ga., 
in  which  Dr.  Paul  Eve  and  other  distinguished  men  were 
Professors.     He    took   rank   at   once   as   among   the  best 
"  posted  "  men  of  the  institution.     After  leaving  college,  he 
secured  license,  and  offered  his  professional  services  to  the 
public.     He  moved  to  AVhite  Plains  ar:d  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Dr.  Porter,  for  whom  he  cherished  ever  after  the 


34  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

highest  regard  as  a  man  and  as  a  physician.  While  he  was 
living  here  a  Methodist  minister  assailed  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  a  sermon  he  happened  to  hear.  He  made  an  an- 
nouncement for  a  vindication  of  his  Church  at  a  camp- 
ground. Several  thousand  people  came  on  the  appointed 
Sunday,  and  so  fully  did  he  prove  the  allegations  false,  and 
show  the  thoroughly  Protestant  character  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  that  the  Methodist  ministers  present  neither  then 
nor  afterwards  attempted  to  reply. 

He  remained  at  White  Plains  one  year,  when  he  moved 
to  Mount  Polk.  Here  he  remained  two  years.  At  this 
place  he  did  a  very  large  practice.  In  the  summer  of  185-1 
a  malignant  form  of  dysentery  appeared  in  his  practice.  It 
was  an  epidemic  resisting  all  treatment,  and  many  persons 
died.  At  one  church  thirty  persons  were  buried  in  thirty 
days.  They  were,  however,  not  all  his  patients.  He 
worked  so  indefatigably,  and  under  such  intense  mental  ten- 
sion, that  he  himself  became  extremely  ill.  Dr.  Porter  was 
his  physician.  While  lying  one  morning  at  the  point  of 
death  from  internal  congestion,  the  doctor  entered  his  room, 
looked  at  him  intently  for  a  few  moments  without  speaking, 
and  then  asked  him  whether  he  thought  he  would  recover. 
He  replied, "  Yes,  I  believe  the  Lord  has  yet  a  work  for  me 
to  do."  His  work  was  not  yet  done  and  God  raised  him  up 
from  the  very  brink  of  the  grave. 

During  these  seven  years,  from  1847  to  1854,  he  was  able 
to  do  very  little  in  the  ministry.  He  seldom  preached.  In 
1853  he  preached  only  once.  In  one  of  those  years,  how- 
ever, he  preached  twenty-one  sermons.  The  places  of  his 
preaching  were  sometimes  at  churches,  but  generally  at 
private  residences.  He  was  far  from  being  satisfied.  He 
longed  to  get  back  into  the  pastoral  work.  Like  Eli,  the 
judge  of  Israel,  he  "  sat  by  the  wayside  watching,  for  his 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  35 

heart ,  trembled  for  the  ark  of  God."  He  often  said  that 
while  in  Alabama  he  felt  like  Nebuchadnezzar — "turned 
out  seven  years  to  graze  like  an  ox."  The  Lord  was,  how- 
ever, accomplishing  with  him  a  high  and  important  purpose. 
The  medical  profession  not  only  was  important  useful  infor- 
mation to  him  subsequently  in  the  ministry,  but  enabled  him 
to  regain  the  fortune  he  lost  by  the  war,  and  to  educate  his 
sons  for  the  ministry  and  medical  profession. 

The  years  in  Alabama  may  be  denominated  the  gloomy 
epoch  in  his  life.  He  was  far  removed  from  his  chosen 
work,  and  even  from  the  services  of  the  Church  which  he 
dearly  loved.  Into  those  days  most  of  his  misfortunes 
crowded.  "Troubles  never  come  singly."  He  met  with 
many  sore  disappointments.  He  learned  more  of  the  dark 
side  of  human  nature  during  those  years  than  ever  after- 
ward. He  bought  a  farm,  and  discovered  that  the  man  from 
whom  he  purchased  it  had  sown  a  luxuriant  weed  upon  it  in 
order  to  give  it  the  appearance  of  fertility.  When  attempt- 
ing to  move  into  another  house  which  he  bought,  the  family 
living  in  it  refused  to  give  entrance  for  several  months,  and 
in  the  meantime  he  was  compelled  to  live  in  a  miserable  little 
hovel  scarcely  proof  against  the  wind,  rain  or  cold.  From 
the  wakeful  pillow  the  stars  could  be  seen  through  the 
porous  roof.  During  the  showers  the  tableware  was  brought 
into  requisition  to  keep  the  beds  dry,  and  the  only  shelter 
for  the  wife  and  little  ones  was  the  chimney  corner.  After 
awhile  the  family,  through  sheer  shame,  or  when  their  conve- 
nience suited,  vacated  the  better  house,  of  which  he  was  the 
rightful  possessor,  and  he  afterwards  had  a  more  pleasant 
domicile. 

An  attempt  was  made  by  one  of  the  Lutheran  members  at 
Jacksonville  who  had  manifested  much  personal  esteem,  to 
injure  him  in  the  Tennessee  Synod.     A  secret  letter  was 


36  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

forwarded  to  one  of  the  sessions  of  this  Synod,  stating  that 
he  was  neglecting  his  duties  as  a  minister  when  he  had  op- 
portunity for  performing  ministerial  services.  The  charge 
was  this :  A  certain  lady  had  travelled  thirty  miles  mainly 
for  the  purpose  of  having  him  baptize  her  children.  When 
informed  of  this  fact  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Tennessee 
Synod,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  following  convention  of 
Synod  in  which  he  completely  overthrows  the  charge.  The 
letter  was  full  of  cogent  reasoning,  cutting  sarcasm,  and 
interesting  remarks. 

In  order  to  cast  clearer  light  on  his  relation  to  the  minis- 
try while  in  Alabama,  we  give  the  following  letter  to  the 
Tennessee  Synod  written  in  1849. 

To  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennessee  Synod,  to  Con- 
vene in  BecFs  Church,  Davidson  County,  N.  C,  on 
Monday  after  the  third  Sunday  in  October,  181^9. 
Bev^d  Brethren:  The  time  has  again  arrived  when,  by  a 
resolution  of  the  Synod,  it  is  made  the  duty  of  every  mem- 
ber who  does  not  attend  to  write  a  communication  containing 
his  reasons  of  non-attendance.  Notwithstanding  the  pleasure 
it  would  afford  me  to  be  with  you,  circumstances  are  such 
that  I  cannot  enjoy  that  pleasure  without  greatly  discom- 
moding and  depriving  myself  of  much  time  to  devote  to  a 
course  of  studies  in  which  I  have  for  some  time  been 
ardently  engaged.  Nevertheless,  did  the  Synod  convene 
within  a  distance  of  one  or  two  hundred  miles  from  here, 
and  the  health  of  myself  and  family  permitted,  I  can  assure 
you,  brethren,  that  there  is  no  privilege  I  would  more  gladly 
embrace,  nor  one  that  would  afford  me  more  real  pleasure, 
especially  under  existing  circumstances,  than  meeting  with 
you  in  Synodical  Convention.  Since  the  impression  is  got- 
ten up  among  the  brethren  that  I  am  wilfully,  from  a  selfish 
and  carnal  nature,  silent  and  pursuing  the  course  I  am,  I 
would  take  pleasure  in  convincing  you  that  my  zeal  in  the 
noble  cause  of  truth  is  not  in  the  least  abated.  But  circum- 
stances seem  to  forbid  that  I  should  be  with  you.  If  in 
considering  my  case  you  think  that  the  distance  from  here 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  37 

to  Synod,  being  near  500  miles,  the  time  and  expense  to 
accomplish  such  a  journey,  are  sufficient  grounds  for  excuse, 
I  shall  kindly  thank  you.  But  if  you  think  not,  I  must,  as 
I  did  last  year,  submit  to  whatever  in  your  better  judgment 
you  see  proper  to  inflict  upon  me.  I  desire  to  say  a  few 
more  words  in  reference  to  the  course  I  am  pursuing,  as  I 
have  no  doubt  that  my  brethren  are  desirous  to  know  some- 
thing concerning  it.  Could  I  be  agreeably  and  profitably 
situated  in  the  ministry,  notwithstanding  all  the  difficulties, 
the  many  and  great  privations  to  which  a  clergyman  is 
subject,  I  can  safely  and  unhesitatingly  assure  you  that 
there  is  no  calling  whose  duties  I  would  more  cheerfully 
discharge  than  those  of  the  ministry.  But  unfortunately 
for  me,  it  is  my  lot  to  be  situated  in  a  country  where  there 
are  few  things  to  encourage  and  many  to  discourage  me  in 
persisting  in  the  duties  of  the  sacred  office.  I  reside  in  a 
place  where  there  are  few  members  of  our  church,  and  most 
of  them  are  very  careless,  and  appear  totally  indifferent  to 
the  duties  of  members  of  the  church  and  her  ultimate  pros- 
perity. 

Previous  to  resigning  my  official  charge  here  some  differ- 
ences of  opinion  arose  as  to  the  project  of  erecting  a  house  of 
worship ;  some  wishing  it  in  the  village,  and  others  in  the 
country.  I  saw  plainly  that  did  either  party  build,  the  other 
would  not  assist,  and  a  division  of  the  small  body  of  Lutherans 
would  be  the  result.  Being  also  unwilling  to  preach  in 
town  in  a  church  where  three  other  denominations  held 
services — two  regularly  and  the  other  occasionally — I 
advised  them  to  make  an  effort  to  procure  another  minister, 
which  they  refused  to  do.  I  at  once  resigned  my  charge. 
*  *  *  I  have,  as  some  of  my  brethren  knoAv,  made 
repeated  efforts  to  obtain  a  charge  that  would  justify  me  in 
moving  my  family  to,  however  great  might  be  the  distance 
to  any  place  where  a  vacancy  is,  or  has  been  since  my 
resignation.  But  having  failed  in  every  attempt  to  make 
satisfactory  arrangements,  I  determined  to  turn  my  atten- 
tion to  the  study  of  medicine  ;  so  that  after  I  shall  have 
completed  my  course  of  studies,  which  I  hope  to  be  able  to 
do  in  several  months  more,  I  may  settle  in  the  bounds  of  a 
small  and  weak  charge  that  could  justify  no  man  in  attend- 


38  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

ing  to  them  for  the  remuneration  they  would  be  able  to  give 
for  his  services.  In  such  a  situation,  I  could  procure  my 
livelihood  by  the  practice  of  the  profession  I  am  in  the  pro- 
cess of  assuming,  and  thus  perhaps  be  a  means  of  benefiting 
my  fellow  mortals  both  spiritually  and  physically.  Having 
written  a  long  and  tedious  letter,  I  close  by  saying  that  I 
have  the  most  implicit  confidence  in  the  judgment,  zeal  and 
Christian  fidelity  of  my  brethren  who  compose  the  present 
session  of  Synod.  May  the  divine  blessing  of  Almighty 
God  rest  on  you  and  your  mutual  transactions,  is  the  sincere 
prayer  of  your  humble  brother  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Alfred  J.  Fox. 

He  took  his  family  by  private  conveyance  to  North  Caro- 
lina, in  1852,  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Tennessee  Synod. 
Again  in  1853,  he  went  on  horseback  to  visit  churches,  which 
led  subsequently  to  his  removal. 


CHAPTER  ly. 

RETURN  TO  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

WITH  the  call  from  four  churches  in  North  Carolina  in 
the  autumn  of  1854,  came  the  da^Yn  of  a  happier  day. 
The  ardent  desire  of  his  heart,  long  smouldering  in  the  ashes 
of  despondency,  was  now  gratified.  The  prospect  of  work  in 
the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  broke  upon  the  long  night  of  dis- 
appointment like  a  ray  of  sunlight  from  a  leaden  sky.  He 
left  a  very  lucrative  practice,  that  was  continually  enlarging, 
to  take  charge  of  the  congregations  which  had  extended  the 
call.  In  North  Carolina  he  reached  the  highest  sphere  of 
his  usefulness.  Here  he  labored  for  thirty  years  with  untir- 
ing energy  and  fidelity.  He  entered  upon  this  work  when 
at  the  meridian  of  his  manhood,  at  the  age  of  36,  and  died 
at  the  post  of  duty.  Here  the  largest  influence  for  good 
was  exerted  in  the  wide  fields  of  medicine  and  the  ministry. 
By  the  service  of  these  years  the  world  was  made  ^better. 
From  it  waves  of  influence  touched  the  eternal  shore. 
Upon  it  rests  the  fragrance  of  the  divine  benediction. 

The  call  from  North  Carolina  came  from  Grace  church  in 
Catawba  county,  Daniel's  and  Trinity  in  Lincoln,  and 
Christ's,  in  Gaston  county.  He  located  for  a  few  months  in 
Catawba,  near  Grace  church,  but  early  in  1855  he  moved  to 
a  farm  in  Lincoln,  five  miles  northwest  of  Lincolnton,  where 
he  lived,  with  the  exception  of  six  years,  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  At  the  end  of  a  year  he  resigned  Christ's  church 
and  accepted  a  call  from  Salem,  where  he  was  ordained  and 
in  whose  cemetery  he  is  buried.     He  preached  his  introduc- 

(39) 


40  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

tory  sermon  at  Grace  church,  January  7,  1855.  He  was 
pastor  of  Grace  and  Salem  urtil  he  died.  With  the  excep- 
tion  of  these  two  churches,  several  changes  in  his  pastoral 
relations  were  made.  He  always  preached  to  four  or  five 
congregations,  but  sometimes  had  charge  of  more.  In  the 
parochial  report  of  the  minutes  of  1868,  of  the  Tennessee 
Synod,  we  learn  that  he  had  nine  churches  with  960  com- 
municants ;  and  in  the  minutes  of  1874,  that  he  had  charge 
of  eleven  churches  with  a  membership  of  1800.  Among 
the  congregations  in  this  State  to  which  he  ministered  in 
holy  things  are  the  following:  In  Catawba,  Grace,  St. 
Peter's,  Holy  Trinity,  at  Hickory,  Newton,  Sardis ;  in  Ire- 
dell, Sharon,  St.  Martin  ;  in  Lincoln,  Salem,  Daniel's,  Trin- 
ity, Bethpage  ;  in  Gaston,  St.  Mark's,  Christ's ;  in  Cleve- 
land, St.  Matthew's,  and  a  mission  point.  His  charge  at 
the  close  of  his  life  consisted  of  Grace,  Salem,  Holy  Trinity 
at  Hickory,  and  St.  Matthew's  at  King's  Mountain.  All 
the  churches  to  which  he  preached  flourished.  Into  all  new 
life  was  infused.  He  aroused  even  those  whose  condition 
and  prospects  seemed  hopeless.  For  example,  when  he  took 
charge  of  Hickory  there  seemed  little  hope.  Other  minis- 
ters who  had  been  pastors  had  despaired.  By  the  urgency 
of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  he  entered,  much  against 
his  own  wishes  and  solely  for  the  good  of  the  church,  upon 
the  work  of  a  missionary.  Even  the  members  of  the  church 
at  Hickory  gave  him  little  encouragement.  But  with  sub- 
lime tenacity  he  held  on  to  the  cause,  until  within  three 
years  new  life  manifested  itself,  his  congregations  increased, 
useful  members  were  added,  improvements  were  made  in 
the  church  edifice,  and  now  it  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful 
churches  of  the  synod.  As  an  organizer  and  builder,  few 
equalled  him.  In  church-work  he  had  only  one  aim — 
growth.     He  did  not  believe  in  stagnation  nor  lukewarmness. 


REV.  ALFRED   J.   FOX,  M.  D.  41 

When  among  his  flock  one  interest  manifested  itself  in  all 
his  conduct  and  words,  the  interest  of  the  church.  This 
was  ever  on  his  heart  and  lips.  His  conversations  embodied, 
it  is  true,  other  matters  of  interest.  Full  of  general  and 
practical  information,  he  interested  old  and  young  in  a  vast 
range  of  subjects,  but  the  opportunity  of  speaking  of  the 
progress  or  condition  of  the  church  was  never  neglected. 
In  his  visits  to  every  home  he  never  tired  of  talking  even 
into  the  late  hours  of  night.  Propositions  to  retire  seldom 
came  from  him.  He  seemed  not  to  expect  that  before  raid- 
night,  though  he  knew  the  hour  for  rising  came  early  in  the 
morning.  It  is  remarkable  that  he  cared  so  little  for  sleep. 
The  medical  practice  induced  perhaps  the  habit  of  sleeping 
little. 

The  growth  of  his  churches  may  be  seen  in  one  instance. 
Grace,  in  Catawba  county,  had,  at  the  beginning  of  his  min- 
istry to  it,  only  38  members.  The  members  of  the  Lu- 
theran and  German  Reformed  churches  worshiped  in  the 
same  house — an  old  log  building.  The  German  Reformed 
congregation  was  composed  of  200  members,  being  among 
the  most  substantial  citizens  of  that  country.  At  the  close 
of  his  ministry  of  a  little  less  than  thirty  years,  the  Lutheran 
congregation  had  something  over  200  members,  and  the  Re- 
formed about  40.  They  worship  in  a  neat,  substantial  brick 
church,  of  which  the  Lutherans  were  the  principal  builders. 
He  confirmed  at  this  church  in  the  whole  time  209  mem- 
bers. The  confirmations  at  some  of  his  other  churches  are 
as  follows:  Salem,  178 ;  Daniel's,  167  ;  Trinity,  229  ;  Beth- 
page,  154;  Sardis,  60,  and  many  at  other  places. 

When  his  pastorate  became  too  large,  some  time  after  the 
war,  he  resigned  four  of  his  churches,  which  extended  a 
call  to  Rev.  M.  L.  Little.  This  change  gave  rise  afterwards 
to  some  of  the  sorest  troubles  of  his  life.     For  awhile  they 


42  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

gave  him  bitter  grief,  but  towards  the  close  of  his  life  its 
burden  was  lightened.  He  moved  to  Newton,  the  countj- 
seat  of  Catawba  county,  in  March,  1873.  Ilis  chief  pur- 
pose in  going  there  was  to  educate  his  children.  Soon 
after  his  removal  he  resigned  Daniel's  church,  one  of  his 
favorites,  under  circumstances  that  never  ceased  to  annoy 
and  distress  him.  He  always  referred  to  his  going  to  New- 
ton as  the  second  great  mistake  of  his  life,  his  removal  to 
Alabama  being  the  first.  He  censured  himself  frequently 
for  leaving  his  home  in  Lincoln  county.  While  in  Newton 
he  was  seized  with  chronic  diarrhoea,  and  he  despaired  of 
his  life.  He  did  a  large  practice  when  well,  first  in  connec- 
tion with  Dr.  Huit,  his  student  in  medicine  who  died,  and 
afterwards  with  his  son.  Dr.  A.  C.  Fox.  He  preached  to 
four  churches  far  distant  from  the  town,  and  for  awhile  to 
the  church  in  town.  He  remained  in  Newton  three  years, 
then  located  near  Salem  church  in  Lincoln  county,  where  he 
lived  three  more  years,  and  then  returned  to  his  old  home- 
stead, where  he  remained  until  his  death. 

His  ministry  altogether  was  very  successful.  Thousands 
of  souls  owe  their  deepest  moral  and  religious  impressions 
to  his  preaching  and  example.  By  his  death  the  church 
and  the  world  suffered  irreparable  loss. 

From  those  who  lived  under  the  holy  influences  of  his 
work  for  thirty  years  voices  came  up,  "None  can  fill  his 
place."  "When  he  fell,  the  whole  community  put  on  sack- 
cloth and  ashes.  Strong  men,  with  little  children,  wept. 
The  Church  said:  "I  have  lost  a  faithful,  earnest,  success- 
ful workman."  Society  said :  "  We  have  lost  a  friend,  upon 
whose  character  does  not  rest  even  the  breath  of  an  evil 
suspicion."  The  world  said:  "  Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a 
prince  and  a  great  man  fallen  this  day  in  Israel?" 

He  fell  with  his  armor  on.     On  the  day,  two  weeks  after 


REV.  ALFRED    J.  FOX,  M.  D.  43 

his  return  from  assisting  his  son  in  Tennessee  with  his 
spring  communions,  he  passed  into  eternity.  His  last  ser- 
mons were  among  the  best  and  happiest  efforts  of  his  life. 
His  very  last  sermon  was  preached  in  Solomon's  (Cove 
Creek)  church,  Greene  county,  Tenn.,  on  May  25,  1884, 
from  1  John  v.  6-8.  His  closing  sentences,  though  calm 
and  deliberate,  were  touching,  and  brought  tears  from  many 
eyes. 

The  following  is  a  curtailed  summary  of  his  work.  He 
baptised  2,346  infants  and  adults  ;  confirmed  1,558  souls  ; 
married  190  couples  ;  and  preached  3,419  sermons. 

The  first  charge  of  which  he  was  pastor  after  coming  to 
North  Carolina  'failed  to  support  him,  and  he  began  the 
practice  of  medicine  to  supplement  his  meagre  salary  from 
the  churches.  By  hard  Avork  in  the  medical  profession  he 
made  the  major  part,  nearly  all,  of  his  fortune.  He  always 
made  this  subordinate,  however,  to  his  ministry.  It  is  a 
wonder  that  he  had  a  practice  at  all  on  account  of  his  en- 
gagement in  church  work,  which  he  never  neglected,  and 
which  often  required  much  time  from  his  practice.  But  he 
never  failed  to  do  a  large  medical  business  when  at  home. 
He  seemed  to  engage  in  it  not  so  much  for  self-support,  but 
to  accommodate  the  public.  He  never  received  a  living 
church  salary  in  his  life.  He  never  complained  of  this, 
however,  either  publicly  or  privately  to  his  members.  He 
seemed  content,  if  the  people  were,  to  provide  for  all  his 
wants,  by  labor  in  another  profession.  Possibly  we  find  in 
this  one  of  his  greatest  mistakes.  He  should  have  preached 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people  themselves :  "The  Lord  hath 
ordained  that  they  which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of 
the  gospel."  The  ministry  have  a  right  to  ask:  "  If  we 
have  sown  unto  you  spiritual  things,  is  it  a  great  thing  if  we 
shall  reap    your  carnal  things?"     Failure  to  support  the 


44  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

ministry,  when  capable,  is  the  sin  of  the  people,  that  needs 
rebuking  even  from  the  sacred  desk. 

Having  lain  aside  what  he  conceived  to  be  competence  for 
temporal  use,  he  abandoned  the  practice  in  1860,  leaving  it 
in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Eli  Crowell,  whose  preceptor  and  part- 
ner he  had  been,  and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  But  in  1862  Dr.  Crowell  went  into 
the  Confederate  army,  and  he  was  forced  by  the  wants  of 
his  community  to  resume  it.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he 
w^as  compelled  to  continue  it  to  regain  his  great  financial 
losses. 

He  was  opposed  to  secession,  not  because  he  denied  the 
the  rights  of  States  to  secede,  and  was  not  therefore  strictly 
a  Union  man,  but  because  he  did  not  believe  the  circum- 
stances demanded  a  revolution,  and  because  he  foresaw 
defeat.  He  made  some  political  speeches  against  secession, 
the  only  ones  of  that  character  in  his  life,  and  one  in  the 
court-house  at  Lincolnton.  His  fellow-citizens  urged  him  to 
become  a  candidate  for  the  State  Convention,  and  many 
precincts  instructed  their  delegations  to  vote  for  him,  but  he 
refused  to  become  a  candidate,  going  into  the  Convention 
and  positively  declining  to  allow  his  name  to  be  put  in  nom- 
ination. When  the  State  passed  the  secession  ordinance, 
holding  that  a  citizen's  first  duty  is  to  the  State  rather  than 
the  nation,  he  acquiesced.  When  political  feelings  ran  high, 
and  the  tide  of  war  presented  sober  thoughts,  his  views  of 
the  situation  were  misunderstood,  and  strong  passions  were 
aroused  against  him,  but  a  public  statement  from  him  allayed 
the  animosity,  and  the  end  showed  that  he  was  right.  He 
lost  §13,000  by  the  war,  more  than  half  of  his  possessions. 
His  wife  inherited  several  slaves.  He  never  bought  one, 
and  sold  only  one,  because  he  preferred  to  remain  in  Ala- 
bama.    At  the  close  of  the  war  he  had  nine  slaves,  who 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  45 

were  of  course  emancipated.  Several  of  them  remained 
with  him  for  some  years  after  the  war.  But  he  had  the 
principal  part  of  his  property  in  private  bonds,  in  order  to 
be  spared  the  trouble  of  managing  it,  and  these  were  paid 
off  in  the  third  and  fourth  years  of  the  war,  a  dollar  in 
Confederate  money,  worth  a  cent  or  less,  paying  for  a  dollar 
loaned  in  gold.  He  dared  not  refuse  to  take  it,  else  a  terri- 
ble cry  of  treason  to  the  Southern  government  would  be 
raised.  Out  of  eight  or  ten  thousand  dollars  in  money  he 
saved  perhaps  one  thousand. 


CHAPTER   y. 


MINISTERIAL    CHARACTER. 


~r^R.  FOX  was  a  theologian  of  considerable  attainments. 
-*-^  The  extent  and  thoroughness  of  his  acquaintance  with 
dogmatic  theology  especially  was  remarkable  in  view  of  his 
great  medical  study  and  the  constancy  of  his  engagements 
in  that  profession.  While  he  was  not  permitted  by  pressing 
duties  in  other  spheres  to  become  conversant  with  the 
"church  fathers,"  he  was  nevertheless  enabled  through 
quotations,  especially  in  the  translation  of  Schmid's  Dog- 
matics, to  learn  their  opinions  on  the  great  cardinal  doctrines 
of  the  Lutheran  church.  His  preparation  for  the  ministry 
came  in  a  day  when  the  fathers  and  dogmaticians  held  an 
unimportant  position  in  a  course  of  study,  and  were  in  very 
few  theological  libraries  ;  and  when  they  came  into  more 
prominence,  his  busy  life  prevented  their  close  examination. 
But  ho  was  all  that  the  Tennessee  Synod  demanded — a 
Liitlteran  theologian.  He  was  profoundly  learned  on  the 
chief  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Concerning  these  he  well  knew  the  teachings  and 
position  of  the  church.  And  he,  not  only  with  his  intellect 
understood,  but  with  his  will  and  affections  accepted  them. 
His  head  and  heart  were  not  pulling  against  each  other  on 
the  glorious  principles  and  dogmas  of  the  Lutheran  faith. 
Convinced  of  their  scriptural  foundation,  that,  they  were 
the  "truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints,"  he  consecrated  his  energies  of  body  and  soul  to 
their  defense.     He  built  his  own  life  upon  them.     He  an- 

(40) 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M,  D.  47 

cliored  his  immortal  hopes  in  them.  And  his  death  gave 
evidence  of  the  eternal  victory  they  secured  him.  He 
delighted  in  conversing  about  Lutheran  doctrines,  in  discuss- 
ing their  deep  mysteries,  and  in  unravelling  the  web  in 
which  others  became  entangled.  His  associations  with  min- 
isters and  intelligent  laymen  were  often  attended  with  these 
conversations  and  discussions.  Very  few  men  waged  with 
him  theological  warfare  without  the  discovery  and  assurance 
that  they  were  dealing  with  a  master  of  the  great  ^'  Science 
of  God."  The  character  of  his  theological  system  was 
eminently  biblical.  For  every  doctrine  he  had  scriptural 
proof  always  at  command.  He  supported  his  propositions 
often  profusely  with  direct  quotations  from  the  Scriptures. 
His  pulpit  scriptural  references  were  exquisite  in  their  adap- 
tation to  the  truths  asserted.  He  had  little  patience  with 
speculative  theology,  and  grew  restless  under  sermons  that 
introduced  mere  personal  opinions.  He  could  not  tolerate 
human  thought  where  one  should  expound  God's  word.  He 
would  press  candidates  under  examination  for  scriptural 
authority.  The  biblical  character  of  his  theological  thinking 
may  be  illustrated  by  an  incident  in  his  last  illness.  In  his 
delirium  he  alluded  to  a  sect  who  deny  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  and  said  ''  they  have  no  scriptural  support  for  their 
opinion,  for  the  Bible  says,"  and  then  went  on  quoting 
passage  after  passage,  proving  that  Christ  is  God. 

The  person  of  Christ  was  an  important  and  conspicuous 
doctrine  in  his  system.  Concerning  it  he  had  an  intelligent 
faith.  He  had  a  deep  penetration  of  its  mysteries.  The 
candidates  for  the  ministry  upon  examination  before  him 
were  always  tested  as  to  their  knowledge  and  faith  in  re- 
spect to  the  "  communicatio  idiomatumy  Among  other 
doctrines  he  was  learned  especially  on  the  nature  and  attri- 
butes of  God,  Providence,  Angels,  Original  Sin,  Regenera- 


48  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

tion,  Justification,  Sanctification,  Repentance  and  Conversion, 
Means  of  Grace,  Baptism  and  the  Eucharist.  The  doctrine 
of  Bpecial  providence  especially  exerted  a  high  and  govern- 
ing influence  over  his  life.  His  convictions  were  firm  that 
God  concurred  in  all  the  acts  of  his  life  ;  chose  his  changes, 
planned  his  course,  and  attended  his  actions.  "The  indi- 
cations of  providence"  was  an  expression  frequently  upon 
his  lips ;  and  he  saw  those  indications  in  events  that  seemed 
trivial  to  those  of  weaker  faith.  He  believed  that  God  ex- 
ercised not  only  a  general  providence  over  the  world,  but 
that  there  was  divine  concurrence  in  the  laws  that  govern 
the  universe,  as  well  as  in  all  the  events  of  individual  life. 

He  viewed  Jehovah  not  only  as  the  Creator  of  all  tilings, 
as  peopling  immensity  with  suns  and  stars,  as  the  Moral 
Governor  of  the  Universe,  but  also  as  "  numbering  the  hairs 
of  our  heads,"  and  marking  "  the  sparrow's  fall." 

His  ability  as  a  theologian  was  known  and  recognized  by 
all  his  acquaintances.  Rarely  ever  was  he  present  at  a 
convention  of  synod  and  not  made  a  member  of  the  examin- 
ing committee,  very  often  its  chairman.  The  ordination 
sermon  was  generally  preached  by  him.  He  was  the  theo- 
logical preceptor  of  Revs.  J.  K.  Haucher,  A.  R.  Bennick, 
E.  E.  Smyre,  1).  E.  Eox,  A.  L.  Crouse,  and  his  own  sons, 
Luther  A.  and  Junius  B.  Fox. 

As  a  preaelier,  he  was  a  man  of  superior  talents.  In 
many  respects  he  was  a  natural  orator.  His  manner  was 
full  of  earnestness  and  warmth,  without  rant ;  his  gestures 
few  and  appropriate ;  his  bearing  dignified  and  serious, 
his  voice  clear,  finely  compassed,  and  exTiibiting  in  its 
deeper  intonations  the  sweetest  rhythm  and  melody. 
His  characteristics  were  clearness,  fluency,  argumentative- 
ness, combined  with  no  small  power  of  persuasiveness.  He 
was  clear  both  in  his  conceptions  and  presentations  of  truth. 


49 

He  made  himself  understood  by  the  plainest  people.  He 
could  not  endure  leaving  a  truth  beyond  the  conception  of 
the  most  illiterate  hearer.  It  was  sometimes  objected  to 
his  sermons  before  large  congregations  that  he  kept  con- 
stantly before  him  the  most  ignorant,  stopping  to  illustrate 
any  point  he  thought  might  appear  obscure  to  any,  or  to 
explain  any  unusual  word.  He  felt  that  it  was  injustice  to 
his  audience,  which  was  generally  in  the  country,  to  lift  his 
thought  or  expression  above  the  capability  of  their  appreci- 
ation. One  would  think  that  long  indulged  habit  in  the 
adaptation  of  his  preaching  to  plainer  people  would  prevent 
the  elevation  of  his  ideas  and  style  before  more  cultivated 
audiences.  But  in  preaching  to  select  audiences,  as  he  fre- 
quently did,  his  language  was  so  chaste,  his  thoughts  so  pro- 
found, that  one  could  scarcely  recognize  his  ability  to  preach 
otherwise.  He  had  the  happy  faculty  in  an  unusual  de- 
gree of  interesting  and  carrying  along  with  him  all  the 
grades  of  hearers.  In  his  country  preaching  he  could  have 
been  more  brilliant,  had  he  been  less  thoughtful  of  the  com- 
mon people,  but  far  less  useful.  This  clearness  of  his  own 
thoughts  and  lucid  exposition  of  them  is  one  of  the  reasons 
of  his  success.  A  marked  feature  of  his  preaching  was 
fluency.  In  the  beginning  of  his  discourse  he  was  deliber- 
ate and  sometimes  slow,  but  when  he  fully  entered  upon  the 
discussion  he  had  a  ready  command  of  language  without 
being  verbose.  He  rarely  ever  failed  to  get  the  precise 
word  he  wanted,  and  in  setting  out  a  truth  in  its  various 
lights  he  never  lacked  appropriate  expression.  He  pos- 
sessed a  remarkable  vocabulary  upon  which  he  could  draw 
ad  lihitum.  Another  feature  was  force  of  argument. 
When  he  failed  to  convince  he  made  us  respect  his  position. 
His  method  of  discussion  was  peculiar.  He  easily  and  un- 
obtrusively dislodged  men's  prejudices  against  his  proposi- 
3 


50  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

tions.  There  were  almost  no  traces  of  fancy,  yet  it  did  not 
seem  like  dry  logic.  Somehow  he  carried  his  hearers  along  in 
long  arguments  without  any  of  the  ordinary  means  employed 
by  speakers.  By  his  cogent  reasoning  he  had  the  faculty 
of  moving  men.  They  were,  however,  not  driven  but  per- 
suaded by  his  argument.  He  made  them  feel  the  force  of 
that  argument,  and  impelled  by  their  emotions  and  sense  of 
duty  they  came  under  its  influence  and  to  its  obedience. 

In  this  way  he  persuaded  men.  He  made  few  direct 
appeals.  Those  he  made  were  without  excitement  and 
fanaticism,  but  in  quiet  and  more  winsome  methods.  Men 
went  out  from  under  his  preaching,  not  wild,  but  thoughtful. 

Prof.  J.  C.  Barb,  of  Whitestown,  Indiana,  gives  us  an 
instance  of  the  effect  of  his  preaching  in  Our  Church 
Paper  of  June  26,  1884:  "The  writer  remembers  hearing 
him  preach  on  one  occasion  from  these  words :  ^  What  shall 
I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  towards  me  ?  I 
will  take  the  cup  of  salvation  and  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  I  will  pay  my  vows  unto  the  Lord  nov/  in  the  presence 
of  all  his  people.'  Ps.  cxvi.  12-14.  iVfter  the  delivery  of 
the  sermon  I  met  one,  not  of  Lutheran  faith,  who  said,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  'I  feel  like  taking  the  cup  of  salvation.' " 

The  style  of  his  sermons  was  expository.  He  threw  open 
all  the  bearings  of  his  text.  He  made  clear  the  proposi- 
tions which  it  involved.  One  could  easily  see  that  the 
chief  burden  of  his  discourse  was  to  expound  the  Scriptures. 
He  disliked  simple  declamation.  A  sermon  in  his  judg- 
ment must  descend  to  the  very  roots  of  the  subject.  It  must 
bear  the  spirit  of  the  passage  from  which  it  is  taken.  It 
must  grasp  the  great  and  leading  thought,  and  cling  to  it 
without  unnecessary  aberrations  and  with  unbroken  unity. 
Even  in  early  manhood  the  method  of  exposition  was  the 
leading  trait  of  his  sermonizing. 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  I).  51 

We  find  in  his  preaching  sometimes  traces  of  refined 
humor.  Witticisms  that  never  breathed  the  air  of  vulgarity 
frequently  found  their  \>'ay  into  his  pulpit  eflbrts.  They 
amused  ^vithout  being  ridiculous.  lie  placed  himself  under 
self-restraint,  however,  in  this  particular.  Conscious  of  his 
humorous  faculty,  he  brought  it  into  subjection,  for  fear  of 
stripping  his  sermon  of  its  seriousness  and  dignity,  and  rob- 
bing the  pulpit  of  its  sacredness.  But  when  he  wished  to 
enforce  a  truth,  or  regain  flagging  interest,  he  sometimes 
indulged  in  wit  of  the  most  innocent  character. 

His  manner  of  preaching  was  chiefly  conversational.  Dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  discussion  it  was  animated  con- 
versation that  grew  into  pathos,  until  he  often  became  truly 
eloquent.  He  preached  without  manuscript,  and  for  many 
years  without  even  notes.  He  had  before  his  mind  his  plan 
clearly  marked  out  and  he  needed  no  reminders.  In  his 
preparation  for  the  pulpit,  he  rarely  ever  wrote  a  line.  He 
would  select  his  text  early  in  the  week,  and  when  not  other- 
wise engaged,  he  would  consider  it  in  all  its  bearings. 
When  going  from  house  to  house  visiting  his  patients  he 
was  studying  his  sermon.  On  Sunday  morning  before  he 
rose  from  bed  he  would  fix  definitely  his  plan,  think  out  the 
order  of  the  more  important  arguments  in  their  relation  to 
each  other,  and  if  he  had  his  usual  clearness  he  was  ready. 
With  this  preparation  he  could  draw  out  at  will  from  his 
various  stores  of  knowledore.  As  the  occasion  su^-frested  he 
took  his  illustrations  from  the  different  fields  of  nature,  or 
from  society,  or  from  recent  events,  or  from  his  fund  of 
anecdotes.  When  the  Synod  met  in  South  Carolina,  in 
1861,  it  was  announced  on  the  ground  just  before  the  open- 
ing session  that  a  battle  had  been  fought  at  Charleston,  in 
which  many  soldiers  of  that  community  had  been  engaged. 
It  was  also  reported  that  the  enemy  had  commenced  an  in- 


52  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

vasion  upon  the  interior.  The  hour  for  preaching  arrived, 
and,  as  president,  he  was  to  deliver  the  sy nodical  sermon. 
Rarely  ever  does  a  minister  have  a  more  difficult  task  than 
lay  before  him  that  morning.  His  text  was  Hebrews  ii.  3  : 
'*  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ?" 
By  reference  to  the  rumor  he  arrested  the  attention  of  the 
entire  congregation,  and  by  means  of  anecdotes,  some  seri- 
ous and  some  amusing,  but  each  one  illustrating  a  truth  he 
was  setting  fortli,  he  held  it  completely  for  an  hour  and  a 
quarter.  He  seemed  to  know  his  audiences  and  his  circum- 
stances and  rarely  ever  failed  to  enlist  their  attention  and  im- 
press upon  them  his  leading  thoughts.  Of  him  as  a  preacher 
Our  Church  Paper  of  June  19,  1884,  in  an  editorial  thus 
speaks:  "By  his  death,  the  family,  the  Church,  and  the 
State  incur  irreparable  loss.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  efficient  ministers  of  the  South — profound,  eloquent, 
and  impressive,  with  indomitable  energy  and  perseverance, 
defensive  and  aggressive.  Few  men  wielded  greater  influ- 
ence. Faithful  and  true,  his  stewardship  never  suffered. 
He  has  now  gone  to  give  an  account  of  it ;  and  all  the  indi- 
cations are  that  he  heard,  as  his  soul  entered,  the  welcome, 
the  enchanting  plaudit,  '  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful 
servant ;  enter  into  the  joys  of  eternal  rest,  in  the  midst  of 
angels  and  just  men  made  perfect.'  " 

In  the  issue  of  August  T,  1884,  of  the  same  paper,  an 
elder  of  Grace  church  speaks  of  "our  pastor"  in  the  follow- 
ing tender  words  :  "  There  can  never  be  replaced  a  pastor  of 
this  congregation,  that  can  gain  the  affection  and  admiration 
of  people  generally  in  all  respects,  as  he  did.  He  was  loved 
and  esteemed  by  all.  He  became  so  intimately  connected 
with  his  people  that  he  was  almost  a  brother  by  the  ties  of 
consanguinity." 

Dr.  Fox  was  during  the  whole  of  his  life  a  very  decided 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  53 

Lutheran.  His  early  childhood  fell  in  that  period  when 
the  division  of  the  church  brought  new  and  general  attention 
to  the  doctrines  of  the  Lutheran  church.  The.  conflict  led 
even  the  laity  to  a  most  earnest  study,  and  resulted  in  very 
positive  conviction.  His  family  was  deeply  interested  and 
espoused  very  heartily  the  cause  of  the  new  synod.  The 
discussion  of  these  doctrines  formed  some  of  his  earliest  im- 
pressions. His  early  ministry  was  in  tlie  life-time  of  the 
fathers  of  the  movement,  his  preceptor  being  one  of  the 
ablest  supporters.  He  entered  the  church  in  an  epoch  that 
required  firm  and  settled  convictions  ;  and  enlisted  in  the 
Master's  service  in  the  Tennessee  Synod,  "  a  sect  universally 
spoken  against,"  at  a  time  when  her  very  name  was  held  in 
derision.  Such  antagonism  made  deeper  his  convictions  of 
truth ;  and  rendered  stronger  his  adherence  to  the  faith  of 
his  fathers.  He  believed  the  doctrines  of  the  Lutheran 
church,  because  they  appeared  to  him  to  be  clearly  taught 
in  the  Bible.  He  made  them  prominent  in  his  creed  and  in 
his  ministry,  because  they  are  so  fundamentally  connected 
with  the  plan  of  salvation.  Not  party  spirit  but  personal 
study  was  the  prime  cause  of  his  faith.  So  plainly  did 
those  doctrines  seem  to  him  to  be  written  in  the  Scriptures, 
that  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  understand  how  any  consci- 
entious, honest  reader  of  the  Bible  could  fail  to  accept  them. 
He  preached  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  his  church  when- 
ever and  wherever  opportunity  was  aiforded  or  occasion  re- 
quired. Under  no  circumstances  would  he  have  hesitated 
to  maintain  or  defend  them.  There  was  not  one  point  in 
the  whole  sum  of  confessional  Lutheranism  that  he  did  not 
heartily  receive  and  endorse.  How  therefore  any  one, 
especially  those  of  the  same  synodical  relations,  could  con- 
sistently and  truthfully  question  his  Lutheranism  is  difficult 
to  understand  unless  their  doubt  is  exposed  to  the  light  of 


54  BIOGKAPIIY    OF 

ultra-Lutheranism.  It  would  be  false  to  his  memory  to  say 
that  he  was  exclusive.  lie  did  not  believe  that  the  famous 
"Four  Points"  are  essential  to  Lutheran  practice.  He 
believed  and  preached  that  Lutheran  altars  are  the  only 
altars  for  Lutherans.  Never  in  his  life,  not  even  in 
Alabama  where  he  was  so  long  denied  the  privileges  of  his 
church,  did  he  receive  the  communion  from  the  hands  of 
any  but  Lutheran  ministers,  or  anywhere  except  in  a 
Lutheran  congregation.  lie  often  preached,  thereby  sub- 
jecting himself  to  misrepresentation  and  reproach,  that  only 
those  who  believe  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Supper, 
ought  to  commune  at  Lutheran  altars.  In  later  years  espe- 
cially he  invited  only  such  persons.  As  the  true  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  are  really  present  with  the  earthly  elements, 
and  as  St.  Paul  says :  "  He  that  eateth  and  drinketh  un- 
worthily, eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  to  himself,  not  dis- 
cerning the  Lord's  body,"  he  believed,  that,  if  any  persons 
received  the  Supper  "  not  discerning  tlie  Lord's  body,"  or 
simply  as  a  feast  of  bread  and  wine,  as  a  memorial  of 
Christ's  passion,  or  as  a  symbol  of  Christ's  absent  flesh  and 
blood,  without  any  premonition,  that  he  himself  was  respon- 
sible for  their  unworthy  communion.  Though  often  mis- 
understood even  by  his  friends,  such  was  really  his  position. 
But  when  not  tested  by  the  "  Four  Points,"  if  indeed  they 
are  a  test  at  all,  he  was  ever  found  a  Lutheran  of  the  high- 
est type  and  most  unshaken  convictions.  One  could  not  be 
associated  with  him,  or  hear  him  preach,  without  observing 
that  he  was  thoroughly,  conscientiously  and  immutably 
grounded  in  tlie  faith  of  the  Lutheran  church.  Ilarely 
ever  did  he  preach  without  some  reference  to  her  distinctive 
doctrines.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest  defenders  of  the  true 
and  historic  Lutheran  faith  in  the  Tennessee  Synod  or  in 
the  South. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

niSTORY  IX  THE  TENNESSEE  SYNOD. 

TTTHEN  Dr.  Fox  entered  the  ministry  the  Tennessee 
^  '  Synod  had  been  seventeen  years  in  existence.  It 
was  organized  in  Cove  Creek  (Solomon's  church),  Greene 
county,  Tenn.,  on  the  17th  of  July,  1820,  by  Revs.  Jacob 
Zink,  Paul  Henkel,  Adam  Miller,  sr.,  Philip  Henkel,  and 
Geo.  Easterly.  Rev.  David  Henkel  was  not  present,  but 
assisted  largely  by  communication  in  the  organization.  At 
her  seventeenth  convention,  when  Dr.  Fox  was  admitted  to 
the  grade  of  deacon,  she  had  ten  ministers,  four  deacons,  and 
four  applicants.  Her  territory  extended  over  portions  of 
Virginia,  Tennessee,  North  and  South  Carolina.  After 
1860,  when  the  ministers  in  Tennessee  withdrew  on  account 
of  the  great  distances  to  the  places  of  meeting,  but  from  no 
dissatisfaction,  either  as  to  doctrine  or  persons,  to  organize 
the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Hohtoyi  Synod,  the  Tennessee 
Synod  has  not  had  a  congregation  in  Tennessee.  She  still 
retains  the  name,  Tennessee  Synod,  because  organized  in 
the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  by  right  of  long  possession, 
although  her  geographical  position  for  the  last  twenty-five 
years  embraces  only  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  from  the  statement  of  these  facts, 
that  in  the  early  history  of  the  Tennessee  Synod,  it  was  no 
easy  accomplishment  to  meet  in  Synodical  convention.  With 
the  sessions  alternating  between  four  States,  Virginia,  Ten- 
nessee, and  the  two  Carolinas,  the  distance  to  Synod  for  the 
majority  of  the  ministers  must  necessarily  have  been  enor- 

(55) 


56  lilOGRAPIlY    OF 

mously  great.  Suppose  the  session  to  be  in  Virginia.  The 
brethren  in  North  Carolina  must  travel  a  journey  of  300  or 
500  miles,  and  those  in  South  Carolina  of  400  or  GOO  miles, 
in  order  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  a  few  days  of  fraternal  asso- 
ciation, and  to  perform  the  important  service  of  devising  the 
best  things  for  Zion.  Those  were  indeed  laborious,  tedious, 
wearisome  trips  on  horseback,  the  only  possible  mode  of 
travel  in  those  days,  over  dangerous  streams,  and  lofty 
mountains.  They  necessitated  an  absence  from  home  and 
church  work  for  at  least  a  period  of  thirty  days,  and 
an  expenditure  of  about  thirty  dollars.  Surely  we  have  in 
this  history  the  noble  examples  of  unselfish  consecration  to 
duty,  the  evidence  of  the  deepest  fraternal  love,  and  the 
highest  churchly  devotion. 

Notwithstanding  these  evidences  of  internal  agreement 
and  personal  consecration  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  and 
of  the  Synod,  the  period  when  Dr.  Fox  became  a  member 
of  the  Synod  was  perhaps  the  darkest  and  most  hopeless  in 
her  history.  There  was  little  prospect  indeed  for  her  con- 
tinued existence.  Some  of  her  leading  spirits  had  departed 
to  the  enjoyment  of  eternal  rest,  among  whom  were  Revs. 
David,  Paul,  and  Philip  Henkel.  Her  ministers  were  aged 
fathers,  and  most  of  them  illiterate.  The  churches  were 
consequently  languishing  and  hopeless.  Her  cords  were 
shortened,  and  her  stakes  weakened.  Many  of  the  laymen 
could  preach  as  well,  perhaps,  as  some  of  the  ministers  who 
delivered  at  best  mere  exhortations,  and  devoted  most  of 
their  time  to  secular  engagements.  Many  members  sep- 
arated themselves  therefore  from  the  church  of  their  fathers, 
and  attached  themselves  to  the  denominations  around,  whose 
educated  ministry  and  cultured  laity  afforded  them  a  more 
congenial  spiritual  home.  One  of  our  leading  divines,  who 
entered  the  Tennessee  Synod  in  that  unfavorable  epoch,  and 


REV.  ALFRED    J.  FOX,  M.  D.  0< 

who  afterwards  became  the  Leonidas  that  led  the  little 
Spartan  hand  through  the  Thermopylae  of  Lutheranism, 
lately  remarked,  that,  "  it  required  obedience  to  faith  and 
principle  to  be  a  Lutheran  in  those  days,  if  a  Lutheran  at 
all." 

But  the  Tennessee  Synod  suffered  not  only  from  want  of 
sufficient  and  proper  ministerial  force,  but  from  opposition 
without.  Though  but  a  small  body  she  professed  to  be,  and 
was,  the  most  distinctively  Lutheran  body  on  the  American 
continent.  The  symbol  of  her  faith,  at  least,  according  to 
her  first  constitution,  was  the  unaltered  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion. To  this  chief  testimony  of  the  Lutheran  faith  she 
alone  tenaciously  and  immovably  held,  when  from  it  and  all 
true  Lutheranism  every  American  Synod  had  departed. 
Her  distinctively  Lutheran  character,  therefore,  arrayed 
against  her  the  antagonism  of  all  other  Lutheran  bodies. 
Those  with  larger  numbers  of  ministers,  members,  and  in- 
fluence denounced  her,  not  only  privately  and  from  the 
pulpit,  but  in  solemn  resolutions.  Such  wore  the  proceed- 
ings against  her  by  the  North  Carolina  Synod  soon  after  her 
withdrawal  in  1820,  also  those  of  the  Virginia  Synod  in 
1838,  those  of  the  General  Synod  in  1840,  and  the  sermon 
of  Dr.  John  Bachman,  of  Charleston. 

Such  was  the  geographical,  personal  and  doctrinal  posi- 
tion of  the  Tennessee  Synod  when  Dr.  Fox  entered  the 
ministry  in  1837,  and  for  several  years  afterward.  It  is 
enough  to  say  that  with  the  addition  of  several  talented  and 
promising  young  men  about  that  time  to  her  ministerial 
ranks,  whom  God  raised  up  for  the  great  work  they  were  to 
perform,  came  a  brighter  day  for  the  oppressed  and  declin- 
ing Synod.  A  revival  of  the  churches  and  Synod  began. 
New  interest  was  everywhere  awakened.  The  people  were 
filled  with  hope  over  the  preaching  and  work  of  the  new 
3* 


58  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

young  men.  Hundreds  were  added  to  the  church.  In  all 
places  Zion  awoke,  and  Jerusalem  put  on  her  beautiful  gar- 
ments. The  young  men,  by  their  education  and  talent, 
brought  strength  to  the  Synod  against  external  opposition. 
They  exhibited  the  ability  to  defend  the  Synod  against  all 
aggression,  and  to  ward  off  violent  assault.  They  lived  to 
see  the  triumph  of  the  principles  for  which  they  contended, 
the  withdrawal  of  opposition,  the  rescission  of  denouncing 
resolutions,  and  to  enjoy  expressions  of  fraternal  regard  and 
agreement  from  tliose  who  were  once  their  foes.  Dr.  Fox 
was  with  these  young  men  in  all  the  trials  through  which 
they  passed,  and  in  every  struggle,  showed  that  he  was  equal 
to  the  emergency. 

His  entire  ministry,  embracing  a  period  of  47  years,  was 
in  connection  with  the  Tennessee  Synod.  He  never  asked 
for  honorable  dismissal  from  the  Synod  until  the  last  session 
he  attended  in  IS&o,  and  this  was  done  in  view  of  prospect- 
ive  work  in  the  Hols  ton  Synod.  The  honorable  dismission 
was  granted,  if  he  desired  it,  but  he  died  before  it  was  ne- 
cessary to  be  formally  given  by  the  president.  During  the 
whole  time  of  his  connection  with  the  Tennessee  Synod,  he 
occupied  a  high  and  important  position  in  it.  He  con- 
tributed more  than  any  other  man  to  both  her  conservatism 
and  progress.  Our  Church  Paper  of  June  19,  1884,  says 
of  him :  '"  While  his  work  was  confined  within  the  limits  of 
the  Tennessee  Synod,  his  influence  was  felt  in  the  whole 
Lutheran  Church  in  this  country,  as  he  was  frequently  cor- 
responding delegate  to  other  Lutheran  bodies.  He  always 
held  positions  of  honor  and  trust  in  his  Synod,  and  was  for 
many  years  her  leading  spirit.  He  gave  direction  and  coun- 
sel in  all  her  interests,  and  was  an  able  advocate  and  de- 
fender of  the  pure  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  the  lleforma- 


^        REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  ,'>9 

While  his  position  was  always  one  of  prominence  and  ser- 
vice, for  the  thirty  years  previous  to  his  death  especially, 
the  Synod  did  not  engage  in  any  important  work  in  which 
he  was  not  one  of  the  principal  actors.  He  was  chosen 
president  five  times  after  1858 ;  previous  to  which  time  we 
do  not  know  how  often  he  was  presiding  officer  as  the  name 
of  the  president  was  never  recorded  in  the  minutes  before 
1851.  In  the  early  history  of  the  Synod  there  seems  to 
have  been  some  little  misunderstanding  about  the  propriety 
of  recording  the  president's  name.* 

Dr.  Fox.  wrote  the  first  President'' s  Report  of  the  Ten- 
nessee Synod,  as  is  self-evident  from  the  abstract  below 
taken  from  the  minutes  of  1861. 

president's  report. 

Dear  Brethren : — Heretofore  it  has  not  been  the  custom 
of  the  presiding  officer  in  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennes- 
see Synod  to  make  out  and  read  an  official  report  at  the 
opening  of  our  annual  sessions,  and  I  am  aware  that  under 
a  strict  interpretation  of  our  constitution  no  such  officer 
exists  after  the  close  of  the  session,  and,  therefore,  during 
the  year  no  official  acts  can  properly  be  performed  by  the 
President.     But  inasmuch  as  by  common  consent,  the  office 

*  In  the  minutes  of  1839,  p.  5,  we  find  the  following  foot-note  by 
the  Secretary  :  "We  have  often  been  asked  who  was  president  of 
our  Synod  ?  Why  was  not  his  name  recorded  in  your  minutes  ? 
To  these  interrogatories  we  would  reply,  that  a  respectable  number 
of  the  members  of  Synod  were  in  favor  of  having  the  name  of  the 
president  inserted  in  our  minutes,  and  indeed  we  could  see  no  im- 
propriely  in  it,  and  conceive  that  according  to  the  'local  and  tem- 
porary regulations'  appended  to  the  constitution,  it  should  be  left 
a  matter  discretionary  with  the  secretary  ;  but  a  vote  was  taken  on 
it,  and  a  majority  were  opposed  to  it  on  the  ground,  (as  is  expressed 
in  the  '  local  and  temporary  regulations '  above  adverted  to),  that 
it  was  unnecessary,  inasmuch  as  another  president  may  be  elected 
every  day,  and  the  constitutional  term  of  his  office  expires  with  the 
adjournment  of  Synod." 


60  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

of  President  is  allowed  to  continue  from  one  session  to 
another,  and  inasmuch  as  during  the  past  year  several  offi- 
cial acts  have  been  requested  of  me  as  President,  and  as  I 
felt  it  mj  duty  to  comply  with  some  of  these  requests,  I 
deem  it  nothing  but  right  that  I  should  render  an  account 
of  my  stewardship  to  those  whom  I  have  represented,  and 
therefore  beg  leave  to  read  before  you  and  submit  to  your 
Christian  consideration  the  following: 

Report. — We,  by  the  grace  of  God,  are  assembled  to- 
gether in  the  forty-first  annual  convention  of  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Tennessee  Synod,  and  it  becomes  us  as  a  body  of 
Christian  ministers  and  lay  delegates  to  make  suitable 
returns  of  thankfulness  and  praise  to  our  kind  Heavenly 
Father  and  the  great  Head  of  the  church  for  the  many  great 
and  distinguished  blessings  we  have  enjoyed  from  the  very 
origin  of  our  organization,  and  especially  during  the  past  year. 

Our  Synod,  it  is  true,  has  had  many  severe  trials,  some 
of  them  seeming  to  threaten  her  very  existence,  yet,  in  the 
hand  of  God,  she  has  survived  them  all,  and  to-day  stands 
the  first  Synod  on  the  continent  of  America  who  took  her 
position  in  defense  of  the  pure  and  wholesome  doctrines  of 
the  venerable  confession  of  Augsburg,  and  still  maintains 
them.  I  congratulate  you  upon  this  fact,  which  I  believe  to 
be  the  ground  of  the  disposition  manifested  in  several  other 
Synods  in  this  country,  to  return  to  the  ancient  land-marks 
and  standards  of  doctrine  established  by  our  fathers  of  the 
Reformation. 

Then  follows  a  reference  to  the  war  then  commencing,  a 
statement  of  official  acts,  and  the  Report  concludes  with  a 
recommendation  that  the  Synod  encourage  The  Souther ti 
Lutheran,  that  she  send  a  delegate  to  the  general  conven- 
tion of  the  Lutheran  church  in  the  Southern  States  in  Salis- 
bury, N.  C,  and  that  she  bestow  especial  attention  upon 
the  subject  of  catechising  the  young  people,  and  instructing 
them  in  the  Sunday-schools. 

It  will  not  be  improper  to  mention  some  of  the  most 
important  synodical  movements  which  he  inaugurated,  and 


61 

in  which  he  participated.  He  was  a  member  of  the  commit- 
tee to  plan  the  establishment  of  a  Literary  Institution  under 
the  control  of  the  Synod  in  1852.  He  was  the  most  active 
leader  in  the  missionary  cause,  and  exerted  himself  more 
than  any  other  to  break  the  fetters  by  which  the  Synod  was 
bound  by  her  first  constitution  from  engaging  in  mission 
work  and  beneficiary  education.  In  185T  he  was  active  in 
organizing  a  Missionary  Society  in  North  Carolina,  and 
preached  the  first  sermon  before  it,  which  was  published  by 
request,  and  is  given  in  the  appendix  to  this  Biography. 
He  advocated  a  revision  of  the  Constitution  with  great  earnest- 
ness, was  a  member  of  the  committee,  and  contributed  in  no 
small  degree  to  its  final  adoption  in  1866.  He  first  awoke 
the  Tennessee  Synod  from  her  lethargy  in  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions, and  tauglit  her  the  necessity  of  an  educated  ministry. 
In  a  "Report  on  the  State  of  the  Church,"  in  1869,  he  speaks 
the  following  arousing  words  :  "  It  seems  to  your  Committee, 
that  the  time  has  come  for  our  Synod  to  awake  to  a  deeper 
sense  of  the  very  important  duty  of  engaging  in  the  several 
enterprises  in  which  every  other  Synod  in  this  country  is  at 
work,  and  by  which  the  Lutheran  Church  was  founded,  and 
for  a  long  time  maintained  in  America.  Every  other  Synod 
is  more  or  less  engaged  in  the  work  of  Missions  and  Bene- 
ficiary Education,  and  are  accomplishing  an  immense  amount 
of  good.  As  a  Synod,  we  stand  alone  inactive  in  these 
things,  and  it  seems  to  your  committee  that  if  we  continue 
thus  to  stand,  many  of  our  congregations  will  soon  cease  to 
flourish,  and  die  out,  and  the  fearful  responsibility  will  rest 
on  us.  It  is  our  duty  to  supply  our  vacant  congregations 
with  a  well-educated,  faithful  ministry,  and  also  to  extend 
our  borders  as  rapidly  as  possible."  He  was  appointed  at 
this  convention  to  write  a  "  Pastoral  Letter"  to  the  churches 
on  the  subjects  of  Missions  and  an  Educated  Ministry.     In 


62  BIOGRAPHY    OP 

1878,  he  drafted  and  read  the  '•  Regulations  for  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennessee  Synod  in  the 
Work  of  Beneficiary  Education." 

He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  to  write  By-laws  and 
Rules  of  Order  in  1861.  He  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee in  1863  to  propose  a  plan  of  operations  for  Army 
Missions,  and  in  accordance  with  that  plan  visited  a  few  times 
the  Lutheran  soldiers  in  1863  and  1864.  He  prepared  a 
"Form  of  Licensure  of  Candidates  for  the  Ministry,"  which 
was  adopted  by  the  Synod  in  1865.  And  in  1877,  he  was 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  the  "  Probation  of  Candidates 
for  the  Ministry  "  which  recommended  the  abrogation  of 
the  "Form  of  Licensure,"  which  then  appeared  inexpedient, 
and  the  adoption  of  the  "Probation"  system  which  is  in 
operation  in  the  Tennessee  Synod  to-day. 

He  introduced  the  resolution  to  district  the  Synod  into 
Conferences,  and  the  result  was  the  formation  of  the  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  and  South  Carolina  Conferences  of 
the  Tennessee  Synod.  He  was  one  of  the  originators,  if 
not  the  prime  mover,  of  the  confessional  spirit  in  the  Synod. 
As  early  as  1855,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Synod,  whose 
convention  that  year  he  could  not  attend,  in  which  "  he  gave 
it  as  his  opinion,  that  Synod  should  clearly  define  her  position 
in  reference  to  the  Symbolical  Books  of  the  Church."  At 
that  time  the  Doctrinal  Basis  of  the  Synod  included  only 
the  Augsburg  Confession  and  Luther's  Smaller  Catechism. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  1859,  that  the  Synod  embraced 
in  her  Doctrinal  Basis  the  entire  collection  of  Symbols  in 
the  Book  of  Concord. 

He  was  chairman  of  the  committee  to  submit  a  form  of 
Church  Bucipline  in  1868.  In  1873  he  introduced  the 
standing  resolutions  on  catechisation.  He  was  among  the 
active  workers  for  the  establishment  of  Our  Church  Paper 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  63 

in  1872  and  1873.  He  represented  the  Tennessee  Synod 
in  visits  to  Mount  Pleasant,  N.  C,  to  confer  with  commit- 
tees of  the  North  Carolina  Synod  in  the  election  of  a  board 
of  editors  and  in  the  selection  of  a  place  of  publication. 

The  subject  of  union  among  Lutherans,  not  only  of  the 
South,  but  throughout  the  United  States,  was  one  that  lay 
very  near  his  heart,  and  for  which  he  always  exerted  his 
utmost  ability.  He  hailed  with  joy  the  return  of  all  the 
synods  to  the  standard  of  true  Lutheranism,  as  he  knew  that 
this  was  the  only  possible  basis  of  external  unity.  We  find 
union  recommended  and  sought  for  in  almost  all  his  presiden- 
tial reports.  He  was  prominent  on  all  the  committees  for  this 
laudable  object.  It  was  the  burden  of  the  message  that  he 
carried  often  as  delegate  to  other  bodies.  It  was  a  consum- 
mation he  devoutly  sought  by  private  correspondence  and 
communications  to  the  church  journals.  And  even  when  all 
his  efforts  seemed  to  meet  with  defeat  "  he  hoped  against 
hope."  He  anticipated  the  day  when  in  God's  own  good 
time  all  who  professed  to  be  Lutherans  would  be  one  in  the 
unity  of  faith.  He  endeavored  greatly  to  cultivate  a 
friendly  spirit  and  establish  a  congenial  relation  between  the 
North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Holston  Synods,  not  only  by 
propositions  of  union  as  president  of  the  Tennessee  Synod, 
but  as  delegate  to  the  other  two,  and  by  extensive  cor- 
respondence with  the  leading  ministers.  He  labored  for 
the  union  of  the  whole  Southern  Lutheran  church.  He 
was  chairman  of  the  committee  to  meet  the  convention 
called  at  Salisbury  in  18(32  for  the  organization  of  the 
Southern  General  Synod.  He  was  the  commissioner  who 
met  that  body  in  Staunton,  Ya.,  in  1867.  And  had  the 
entire  Southern  General  Synod  stood  to  the  doctrinal  plat- 
form and  agreement  of  their  committee.  Rev.  Drs.  A.  R. 
Rude,  D.  F.  Bittle  and  T.  W.  Dosh,  who  held  a  colloquium 


G4  BIOGKAPUY    OF 

with  him,  the  union  of  that  Synod  with  the  Tennessee  Synod 
would  have  been  the  satisfactory  result. 

He  was  not  only  chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  Ten- 
nessee Synod  that  met  the  Committee  of  the  North  Carolina 
Synod  at  Mount  Pleasant,  N.  C,  on  the  27th  day  of  April, 
1871,  to  agree  upon  a  basis  of  union  between  the  two  synods, 
but  was  chairman  of  both  committees  at  this  meeting. 

But  he  was  not  permitted  to  see  the  day  of  the  happy 
prospective  union  for  which  he  so  ardently  wished.  His 
eyes  were  closed  upon  the  results  of  the  struggles  for  this 
grand  accomplishment  for  which  he  had  so  long  contended. 
From  the  prospect  of  unity  in  the  church  militant  he  was 
removed  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  perfect  union  of  the  church 
triumphant. 

He  finished  his  work  in  the  brightest  epoch  of  the  Ten- 
nessee Synod.  While  there  was  in  the  last  few  years  the 
introduction  of  policies  and  phases  of  Lutheran  practice 
which  he  did  not  believe  to  be  best  for  the  church,  he  never- 
theless had  the  satisfactory  anticipation  that  the  good  work 
in  which  for  nearly  half  a  century  he  had  engaged  would 
go  forward  under  the  blessing  of  God.  At  his  death  the 
synod  had  28  ministers,  8  candidates  and  8  beneficiaries,  an 
increase  of  a  hundred  per  cent,  in  the  number  and  character 
of  her  ministerial  force,  with  a  corresponding  percentage  in 
increased  usefulness  from  the  time  of  his  entering  the  min- 
istry. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CHARACTER  AS  A  PHYSICIAN. 

T~\R.  FOX  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  Alabama  in 
-*-^  1848.  lie  was  then  thirty-one  years  old,  and  had 
been  an  ordained  minister  ten  years.  The  causes  that  led  him 
to  the  medical  profession,  as  already  indicated,  were  princi- 
pally because  he  was  not,  and  apparently  could  not  be,  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He  gave  three  years  to 
the  preparatory  study  of  the  profession,  under  the  tuition 
of  Drs.  Francis  and  Clark,  who  were  among  the  most  emi- 
nent physicians  of  that  day  in  the  State.  After  attending 
lectures  at  the  medical  college  of  Augusta,  Ga.,  he  applied 
to  the  medical  board  of  the  State  of  Alabama  for  license. 
His  preceptors,  Drs.  Francis  and  Clark,  who  were  members 
of  the  board,  turned  him  over  at  once  to  the  other  members 
as  perfectly  satisfied  with  his  knowledge  of  medicine,  and 
no  one  asked  him  more  than  a  few  questions.  He  came  to 
the  practice  thoroughly  read.  After  obtaining  license  he 
practiced  in  the  State  about  three  years,  when  he  removed 
to  North  Carolina  in  1855. 

He  was  a  regular  practitioner  for  thirty-three  years,  and 
with  the  exception  of  two  interims  of  a  couple  of  years  in 
which  he  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  pastoral  work. 

The  type  of  his  medical  character  was  allopathy.  He, 
however,  occasionally  adopted  a  homrjeopathic  remedy,  when 
he  thought  it  possessed  of  sufficient  and  suitable  reme- 
dial virtue.  He  belonged  to  the  school  of  regular  practi- 
tioners.    Like  them,  he  exercised  independence  of  investi- 

(65) 


66  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

gation  and  tliouglit  in  reference  not  only  to  the  theory  of 
disease  but  the  proper  therapeutics.  He  never  attempted, 
however,  to  go  beyond  the  justifiable  limits  of  the  standard 
authors.  He  was  not  too  radical,  in  so  far  that  he  would 
cling  to  the  old  simply  because  it  was  old.  He  was  not  too 
progressive — abandoning  an  old  remedy  for  one  whose  vir- 
tues were  unknown,  or  simply  because  it  was  new.  He  was 
wisely  conservative — progressing  with  the  science  of  medi- 
cine, yet  sure  to  retain  tried  theories  and  remedies  until  he 
was  convinced  of  the  superiority  of  those  lately  discovered. 
He  possessed  a  large  and  well-selected  medical  library.  He 
was  subscriber  to  the  best  medical  journals  of  the  age.  -He 
was  a  diligent  student  of  all  the  medical  thought  with  which 
he  came  in  contact.  His  excellent  memory  enabled  him  to 
digest  and  retain  the  substance  of  his  reading.  This  supe- 
rior recollection  of  facts  gave  him  power  to  cope  with  men 
who  devoted  themselves  exclusively  to  medicine,  quite  as 
well  as  though  he  was  engaged  in  only  one  profession.  The 
mystery  is  that  he  could  elevate  himself  to  any  distinction 
in  medicine,  when  he  had  consecrated  himself  so  fully  to  the 
ministry,  and  his  heart  and  highest  aspiration  lay  in  that 
work.  We  can  attribute  whatever  measure  of  success  with 
which  he  was  favored  only  to  his  superior  talent,  his  indomit- 
able energy,  and  high,  fixed  purpose  of  soul. 

His  success  was  proof  of  his  skill.  He  never  failed  to 
have  a  large  practice  either  in  Alabama  or  North  Carolina, 
when  the  sickness  of  his  community  demanded  it.  In  North 
Carolina  physicians  were  numerous,  and  competition  was 
great,  but  he  maintained  his  usual  extent  of  practice  to  the 
last.  Few  physicians  traveled  over  larger  territory.  Fre- 
quently he  had  patients  twenty-five  and  thirty  miles  from 
his  home,  under  the  very  shadow  of  other  doctors'  resi- 
dences.    The  raaintainance  of  his  large  professional  duties 


REV.  ALFRED    J.   FOX,  M.  D.  67 

wherever  he  located,  at  Newton,  and  in  Lincohi  county, 
N.  C,  in  the  face  of  opposition,  is  positive  testimony  that 
he  was  a  physician  of  no  mean  reputation.  Especially  is 
this  apparent  when  we  consider  the  fact  that  he  always 
neglected  his  practice  for  the  duties  of  the  church.  It 
required  no  little  confidence  of  patrons  to  wait  for  his  ser- 
vices while  he  was  absent,  or  to  be  content  with  simply  his 
medicines  until  he  returned.  In  those  years  when  he 
preached  to  eight  and  nine  congregations,  he  was  most  exten- 
sively engaged  in  the  medical  work. 

Medical  men  valued  his  opinion.  He  was  often  called  in 
consultation.  A  physician  in  North  Carolina,  who  possesses 
a  State  reputation,  who  was  called  to  see  a  patient  in  his 
absence  remarked,  "I  can  do  no  more  than  Dr.  Fox  has 
done."  He  had  a  considerable  reputation  as  a  surgeon. 
He  did  the  largest  surgical  practice  in  the  whole  of  his  sec- 
tion. Very  few  operations  were  performed  for  many  miles 
around  his  residence  unless  by  himself  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  Dr.  M.  L.  Brown,  of  Lincolnton. 

His  specialty,  if  he  had  any,  was  diseases  peculiar  to 
females,  but  he  took  more  delight  and  was  more  successful 
in  the  treatment  of  chronic  diseases,  especially  those  that 
had  baffled  the  skill  of  other  physicians. 

He  could  not  tolerate  "humbuggery."  He  loathed 
quackery.  He  never  prescribed  "patent  medicines,"  unless 
he  was  certain  of  the  formula  of  their  composition.  He 
was  always  honest  in  what  he  said  about  a  case.  He  scorned 
the  idea  of  riding  into  the  confidence  of  his  friends  and 
others  by  trying  to  make  them  believe  he  had  done  great 
things  when  there  was  no  danger. 

In  the  examination  of  his  patient  he  was  thorough  and 
careful.  He  did  not  administer  medicines  before  he  knew 
the  nature  and  seat  of  the  disease.    Sometimes,  when  others 


08  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

thought  the  examination  sufficient,  he  persisted  until  he  be- 
came thoroughly  satisfied.  He  did  not  believe  in  "  drug- 
ging." He  thought  it  better  to  take  no  medicine  unless  it 
was  really  necessary.  He  did  not  humor  the  hysterical  and 
hypochondriac  with  the  large  infusions  of  medicine  which 
they  sometimes  expected,  if  any  at  all.  We  are  not  abso- 
lutely certain  that  he  gave  "  bread  pills,"  but,  judging  from 
the  usual  medical  character,  suppose  that  he  did. 

He  was  always  cheerful  and  composed  when  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  patients,  inspiring  them  with  confidence,  and  en- 
couraging them  to  keep  up  a  strong  moral  courage.  He  was 
under  the  conviction  that  medical  skill  with  its  remedies  could 
at  best  only  assist  nature  in  her  efforts  to  cure,  and  that  when 
nature  was  impeded  by  despair  the  case  was  more  hopeless. 

He  often  prayed  with  his  patients  when  he  saw  there  was 
danger,  if  he  thought  they  could  bear  it,  or  were  in  a  con- 
dition to  appreciate  it. 

He  did  a  large  charity  practice.  Something  of  the  bene- 
volence of  this  part  of  his  work  may  be  seen  from  his  books. 
Thousands  cf  dollars  were  given  away  to  the  afflicted,  not 
only  in  labor,  but  in  medicines.  Some  of  his  services  were 
not  charged  on  his  ledger,  and  much  more  money  was  given 
in  this  direction,  because  he  preferred  to  allow  the  bills  to 
pass  out  of  date  rather  than  ask  for  their  payment  when 
that  would  embarrass.  "They  need  it  more  than  we,"  was 
a  frequent  expression  to  his  own  family. 

He  did  something  in  the  way  of  giving  medical  instruction. 
In  Alabama  he  had  a  student  whose  name  is  not  now  at 
command  ;  in  North  Carolina  he  had,  as  students,  Drs.  Eli 
Crowell,  who  for  twenty-five  years  has  been  doing  a  large 
practice,  A.  M.  Huitt,  who  died  just  as  he  was  commencing 
business,  and  his  own  sons.  Albert  C.  and  J.  Francke  Fox. 
He  has  three  sons  in  the  medical  profession. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HIS  GENERAL  CHARACTER. 

~r^R.  FOX  was  endowed  with  a  strong  native  intellect. 
-"-^  tie  was  capable  of  deep  and  thorough  analysis.  He 
aimed  at  the  depths  of  wisdom.  He  was  not  content  with 
merely  superficial  and  mechanical  knowledge.  He  pos- 
sessed a  mind  capable  of  grappling  with  the  very  foundations 
of  a  subject,  and  to  those  foundations  he  generally  went. 
He  was  a  profound  and  sprightly  thinker.  His  judgment 
was  calm,  far-seeing  and  most  always  correct  in  its  supposi- 
tions. His  mind  was  sensitive,  taking  cognizance  of  all 
objects  with  which  it  came  in  contact,  and  forming  correct 
conceptions  of  them  almost  by  intuition.  His  intuitive  per- 
ception was  remarkable.  If  he  did  not  comprehend  a 
thought  at  once  it  vras  difficult  for  him  to  comprehend  it  at 
all.  The  most  striking  of  his  mental  powers  was  his  mem- 
ory of  facts.  None  who  knew  him  could  fail  to  observe  the 
readiness  with  which  he  remembered  places,  names  and 
faces.  He  never  forgot  a  face  he  ever  knew,  and  with  the 
recognition  of  the  face  came  the  name.  After  twenty  years 
of  absence  he  would  address  his  former  acquaintances  as 
readily  as  if  he  had  seen  them  a  few  months  before.  A 
short  while  before  his  death  he  rehearsed  incidents  of  forty 
years  previous  with  as  much  vividness  as  if  they  had  trans- 
pired a  few  days  before.  Going  into  any  country  where 
he  had  lived  or  traveled  through,  he  could  relate  occur- 
rences which  most  of  the  citizens  who  had  never  chan^^ed 

o 

their  residences  had  forgotten.     Thus  he  remembered  all 

(69) 


70  BIOGRAPHY   OF 

facts.     He   also  had  a  sober  judgment  that  could  utilize 
these  facts. 

He  ^vas  a  safe  counsellor.  He  was  very  cautious,  often 
too  much  so,  but  he  was  on  the  side  of  safety.  He  had  a 
peculiar  power  of  reading  character.  He  was  sometimes 
mistaken  in  his  first  impressions  of  men,  but  not  often.  It 
was  time  to  "beware  of  men"  when  he  warned  you. 

He  was  generally  very  cool  and  self-possessed.  He  was 
never  impulsive,  except  in  giving  expression  to  his  indigna- 
tion at  that  which  he  regarded  as  mean  and  evil.  When  he 
was  pressed  by  parties  for  reasons  for  his  course  in  any 
given  respect,  if  that  course  was  determined  by  their  actions 
which  he  disapproved,  he  would  speak  the  whole  matter  out. 
If  he  had  been  more  reserved  in  such  things  his  life  would 
have  been  smoother  in  some  respects.  He  despised  dissimu- 
lation. He  detested  falsehood  and  chicanery  to  gain  any 
end.  A  positive  man,  he  attracted  strongly,  but  he  also 
repelled.  When  there  was  antagonism  with  him  it  was 
usually  sharp. 

The  knowledge  of  his  business,  reaching  into  several 
spheres  of  activity,  was  remarkably  accurate.  He  had  the 
various  ends  of  it  always  at  command.  He  could  inform 
you  almost  at  any  time,  without  reference  to  written  records, 
concerning  the  various  positions  of  his  property  and  his 
financial  status.  He  was  prudently  economical.  He  gave 
his  means  for  all  the  necessaries  and  many  of  the  luxuries 
of  lite,  but  he  disdained  extravagance. 

In  stature  he  was  of  medium  height  and  well  proportioned. 
He  was  not  particularly  muscular,  but  had  great  powers  of 
endurance.  His  temperament  was  sanguine,  with  a  mixture 
of  the  bilious,  his  countenance  manly  and  engaging,  indi- 
cative of  principle  and  firm  convictions.  His  face  was  in- 
telligent and  earnest.    It  was  not  so  handsome  as  strong. 


71 

His  bearing  was  always  dignified.  He  never  assumed 
an  awkward  p<^sition,  even  when  it  might  have  been  un- 
noticed. His  posture  and  carriage  were  erect.  His  per- 
sonal appearance  and  manner  were  altogether  such  as  to 
produce  the  conviction  that  he  realized  the  responsibility  of 
the  high  office  with  which  he  was  invested,  and  the  impor- 
tant duties  with  which  he  Avas  charged.  His  demeanor  on 
all  occasions  was  natural,  and  not  intended  for  personal 
attraction  or  eSect. 

For  many  years  he  was  a  dyspeptic,  and  rarely  ever  felt 
well,  but  this  did  not  afiect  his  social  nature.  In  social 
intercourse  he  was  very  genial.  He  loved  conversation. 
He  would  talk  to  any  one,  a  child  or  a  negro,  who  happened 
to  be  thrown  with  him.  He  could  make  himself  interestins: 
to  persons  of  all  ages.  There  never  came  a  protracted  lull 
in  the  conversation  in  which  he  participated.  From  his 
happy  social  nature  came  much  of  the  good  he  accomplished 
in  the  world.  He  was  always  communicative.  He  gave  the 
people  the  benefit  of  his  best  thoughts.  In  every  associa- 
tion and  relation  he  educated  them.  And  the  wisdom  which 
he  imparted  w^as  the  wisdom  of  culture,  of  elevated  and 
ennobling  thought,  of  pure  and  upright  life.  He  read  and 
treasured  up  facts  of  pure  and  useful  information,  and  he 
was  constantly  drawing  out  and  distributing  from  those 
treasures  "things  new  and  old."  In  estimating  the  good 
effected  by  his  preaching,  and  by  all  his  public  ministrations 
in  the  house  of  God,  we  must  not  forget  the  holy  influence 
he  shed  upon  all  those  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  the 
private  circles  of  life.  It  might  be  that  we  would  find  in 
his  quiet  and  unostentatious  life,  in  the  thousands  of  daily 
acts  and  efforts  for  the  good  and  happiness  of  others — acts 
removed  from  the  gaze  and  applause  of  men — a  power  and 
influence  for  the  welfare  and  salvation  of  his  fellow-men. 


TZ  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

almost  as  great  as  that  which  he  exercised  in  his  public 
career.  It  is  not  easy  to  estimate  the  power  for  good 
wrought  by  the  gentle  word  spoken  in  kindness,  the  act  of 
benevolence  and  charity  which  no  one  knows  except  those 
upon  whom  it  is  bestowed,  the  prayer  with  a  sinner  alone 
which  na  one  hears  but  God,  or  even  the  good  impression 
that  flows  out  like  sunshine  from  the  example  of  holy  char- 
acter and  life.  It  is  in  the  social  circle,  as  well  as  in  the 
pulpit,  that  Dr.  Fox  will  be  missed.  Society  is  deprived  of 
a  leader,  as  the  pulpit  is  of  an  able,  eloquent  and  efficient 
minister.  Long  years  will  be  passed  before  the  name  of 
Dr.  Fox  will  cease  to  be  spoken  by  the  firesides  once  lighted 
up  with  his  genial  presence,  and  even  after  that  name  is  for- 
gotten his  influence  will  live  in  the  hearts  that  had  not 
known  him  to  love  him. 

He  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  integrity.  He  was  some- 
times mistaken,  but  he  was  always  conscientious.  In  what- 
ever he  did,  he  believed  that  he  was  right.  In  his  business 
transactions  he  was  perfectly  honest.  His  character  in  all 
respects  was  pure.  No  man  ever  dared  assail  it  in  any  of 
its  moral  bearings,  or  charge  him  with  intentional  wrong. 
There  was  not  the  breath  of  an  evil  suspicion  resting  on  the 
whole  of  his  life. 

The  secret  of  his  success  was  his  ardent  piety.  He  was 
thoroughly  and  conscientiously  a  Christian.  He  had  expe- 
rienced in  his  own  soul  the  regenerating  and  sanctifying 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  His  heart  had  been  trained 
in  the  school  of  afflictions,  and  it  never  forgot  the  holy  influ- 
ences wrought  upon  it  by  divine  grace.  He  was  an  intelli- 
gent believer.  He  could  say,  "  I  know  whom  I  have  be- 
lieved." He  was  unshaken  in  his  religious  convictions. 
They  could  not  for  any  consideration  be  bribed.  They  were 
as  inmovable  as  granite.     They  gave  steadiness  lo  his  life, 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M.  D.  73 

and  inspired  the  utmost  confidence  of  all  who  knew  him. 
The  spirit  of  Christ  was  in  him.  His  life  was  a  beautiful 
exemplification  of  the  truth  of  his  principles  and  the  power 
of  the  Gospel.  His  actions  always  corresponded  with  the 
lessons  he  inculcated  from  the  pulpit — the  duties  he  enforced 
in  his  pastoral  relations.  His  claims  to  discipleship  none 
questioned.  His  qualifications  for  the  joys  of  the  eternal 
world  all  admitted. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  energy,  indefatigable  in  all  his 
labors,  "instant  in  season  and  out  of  season."  Whatever 
his  hands  found  to  do  he  did  with  all  his  might.  He  did  not 
yield  to  feelings  of  indisposition,  and  grant  himself  surcease 
from  toil.  Often  he  was  sick,  and  several  times  he  was 
very  ill,  yet  he  did  an  astonishing  amount  of  work.  For 
thirty  years  his  engagements  were  such  as  ordinarily  em- 
ploy two  or  three  men.  But  he  did  his  work  well,  and  did 
it  with  satisfactory  ease. 

Neither  in  medicine  nor  theology  did  he  write  much.  His 
life  was  too  busy.  He  had  no  time  for  elaborate  treatises. 
He  had  very  little  taste  for  that  kind  of  work,  because  he 
never  had  the  opportunity  of  cultivating  the  skill.  The  ef- 
fusions from  his  pen,  though  few,  evinced,  however,  a  style 
clear  and  terse,  a  reasoning  cogent  and  convincing,  and 
thoughts  profound  and  lucidly  expressed.  Some  of  his 
written  productions  are  beautiful  and  meritorious.  His 
written  sermons,  however,  were  never  equal  to  his  extem- 
pore efforts  ;  and  reading  them  always  placed  him  at  decided 
disadvantage. 

He  would  often  enjoy  pure  anecdotes,  and  had  a  consid- 
erable fund  which  he  told  with  eff"ect.  But  he  had  no 
patience  with  them  when  impure  or  profane,  or  when  serious 
matters  were  before  him  if  told  simply  for  amusement.  He 
did  not  object  sometimes  when  they  were  told  at  his  expense. 
4 


74  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

While  with  a  company  of  friends  on  a  certain  occasion  he 
was  reminded  of  an  occurrence  at  synod.  Several  of  "  the 
brethren"  were  attempting  "to  raise  the  hymn."  Their 
efforts  failed.  "When  asked  whether  he  remembered  that  he 
said,  "You  just  quit,  brethren,  let  me  try  it?"  he  answered 
"Yes,  and  didn't  I  make  it  go?"  He  was  playfully  re- 
minded then  that  this  anecdote  would  find  a  place  in  his 
biography,  but  he  littlo  dreamed  of  that  reality. 

He  related  an  interesting  anecdote  about  himself.  While 
traveling  at  a  certain  time  he  passed  a  house  from  which 
issued  the  shrieks  of  a  woman  as  if  about  to  be  murdered. 
He  dismounted,  and  soon  learned  that  it  was  a  man  beating 
his  wife.  He  gave  himself  to  the  woman's  rescue.  He 
caught  hold  of  the  scoundrel,  threw^  him  down,  and  asked 
for  a  rope  to  tie  him.  When  the  wife  was  released,  she 
became  indignant  at  what  she  considered  as  the  unneces- 
sary interposition  of  the  stranger,  and  seizing  a  chair 
began  to  attack  him  who  wished  to  befriend  her,  and  told 
her  husband  that  if  he  did  not  kill  him  she  would  never 
have  anything  more  to  do  with  him.  Rewarded  with  such 
base  ingratitude  he  abandoned  the  contest,  and  hastily  re- 
turning to  his  horse,  seeing  in  his  escape  the  man's  gun  over 
the  door,  began  to  beat  a  fast  retreat,  settling  down  with 
the  conviction  that  forever  afterward  he  would  permit  man 
and  wife  "to  fight  it  out"  by  themselves.  These  anecdotes 
might  be  indefinitely  multiplied. 

We  give  below  a  few  of  the  published  estimates  of  his 
general  character.  Others  may  be  seen  in  the  issues  of  Our 
Church  Paper,  New  Market,  Va.,  from  June  19  to  August 
15,  1884;  Lincoln  Press,  Lincolnton,  N.  C,  June  13; 
Newton  Enterprise,  June  14;  Charlotte  Observer,  June 
15;  Piedmont  Press  and  Weste7'7i  Carolinia^i,  Hickory, 
N.  C;  Home-Democrat,  Charlotte,  N.  C,  June  20;  Gas- 
tonia  Gazette,  and  Lutheran  Observer,  Philadelphia,  Ta. 


75 

Rev.  A.  J.  Brown,  D.  D.,  Blountsville,  Tennessee,  a  life- 
long companion  anil  friend,  thus  testifies  in  Our  Cliurch 
Paper  of  July  17,  1884:  "There  Avas  in  Dr.  Fox  a  per- 
sonal magnetism  that  strongly  attracted  others  to  him,  and 
greatly  endeared  him  to  all  with  whom  he  came  in  social 
contact,  especially  such  as  sympathized  with  him  in  his 
views,  feelings  and  purposes,  and  at  the  same  time  a  frank- 
ness that  inspired  all  with  the  utmost  confidence  in  his  moral 
integrity,  however  greatly  they  might  differ  with  him  in 
some  respects.  He  possessed  also  in  a  high  degree  the 
social  qualities  and  colloquial  powers  which,  refined  and 
elevated  and  restrained  and  directed  by  divine  grace,  made 
him  a  pleasant  and  an  entertaining  Christian  companion. 
He  was,  in  a  word,  a  Christian  gentleman  of  high  tj^pe. 

"Dr.  Fox  was  no  mere  ordinary  man.  Nature  had  done 
much  for  him,  and  her  gifts  were  not  neglected.  He  "was 
endowed  with  fine  native  intellect,  and  while  not  thoroughly 
educated  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term,  his  mental 
powers  were  nevertheless  Avell  developed  and  disciplined  by 
an  extensive  course  of  reading  and  study  in  the  two  learned 
professions  of  his  choice.  His  conceptions  of  tlie  truth  on 
all  subjects  with  which  he  grappled  were  quick  and  clear, 
and  generally  correct.  His  convictions  of  truth  and  its 
importance  were  deep  and  firm ;  and  his  defence  of  the 
right,  as  well  as  his  opposition  to  tlie  wrong,  was  always 
prompt  and  manly.  He  was  a  man  of  fixedness  of  principle, 
and  was  always  willing  and  readv  to  defend  principle  when 
the  interests  of  truth  demanded  his  services. 

"  Dr.  Fox  was  a  strong  man.  His  power  was  felt  and 
acknowledged  wherever  he  labored.  He  never  failed  to 
make  his  mark.  He  was  a  fluent  speaker,  a  clear  reasoner, 
and  shrewd  debater ;  and  better  than  all,  he  was  a  faithful, 
evangelical,  and  sucessful  preacher." 


70  BIOGRAPJIY   OF 

One  not  of  Lutlieran  faith  speaks  of  him  as  follows,  in  the 
Newton  (N.  C.)  Ujiterprisc,  of  June  "i4, 1884  :  "  He  was 
a  man  of  great  industry.  When  he  was  not  administering 
to  the  souls  01  men  he  was  actively  engaged  in  relieving 
their  bodily  infirmities.  lie  was  a  man  of  no  ordinary 
mind.  As  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  he  was  liberal,  evangeli- 
cal and  learned.  Whib  he  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Christian  religion  as  expounded  by  the  great 
Reformer,  Martin  Luther,  yet  he  never  railed  against  those 
who  difterel  with  him  in  minor  points  of  religion.  His 
usefulness  was  not  confined  to  neighborlioods  and  counties ; 
but  liis  reputation  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel  and  a  physician 
extended  beyond  the  limits  of  this  state.  He  ac(|uircd  by 
his  practice  a  considerable  amount  of  property  ;  but  he  never 
oppressed  the  poor.  He  raised  and  educated  his  children 
well.  Two  of  liis  sons  are  ministers,  and  three  are  physi- 
cians." 

But  his  varied  work  is  done.  The  eloquent  tongue  is 
still.  The  strong  arm  is  laid  low.  His  labors  have  ceased. 
Yet  his  influence  lives  and  will  continue  to  bless  the  world 
even  till  the  latest  generation. 


H 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CLOSE   OF   LIFE. 

'IS  closing  years  were  not  marked  by  any  special  de- 
-  dine  in  physical  vigor.  He  did  not  seek  particularly 
any  cessation  from  the  arduous  labors  that  had  constituted 
the  whole  of  his  life.  Yet  there  were  some  evidences  that 
the  exertion  of  years  was  telling  upon  his  person  and  ener- 
gies. A  robust  constitution,  never  abused  by  injurious 
habits,  would  doubtless  have  prolonged  his  life  beyond  the 
allotted  threescore  years  and  ten ;  but  there  had  been  many 
causes  to  sap  and  undermine  it.  The  long  exposures  to 
every  change  of  temperature,  and  every  condition  of  weather, 
and  the  constant  strain  on  nerves  and  heart  and  brain  which 
his  vast  responsibilities  and  trials  had  entailed,  had  been 
silently  and  gradually  doing  their  work ;  and  now  his  step 
had  lost  something  of  its  elasticity,  the  ruddy  glow  of  health 
upon  his  countenance  had  partially  faded,  and  there  was  a 
disposition,  if  it  was  not  gratified,  to  seek  repose  from  the 
cares  and  turmoils  of  life. 

The  silvery  locks,  whitened  with  the  frost  of  more  than 
three-score  winters,  the  eye  once  brilliant,  which  now  and 
then  had  a  far-away,  abstracted  gaze,  and  the  face  over 
whose  lineaments  sometimes  stole  a  shade  of  sadness,  si- 
lently whispered  his  descent  upon  the  sunny  slope  of  years, 
and  his  ripening  for  the  grave. 

He  fell  with  his  armor  on.  In  the  midst  of  the  most 
active  ministerial  and  medical  duties  he  was  summoned  to 
give  an  account  of  his  stewardship.     He  died  in  the  midst 

(77) 


78  BIOGKAPIIY    OF 

of  the  conflict,  in  the  foremost  ranks.  His  last  prayers 
were  to  be  spared  for  the  warfare  against  evil  in  which  he 
had  been  so  long  engaged,  ''for  the  good  of  the  Church" 
which  he  so  dearly  loved ;  yet  willing  to  "  depart  and  be  with 
Christ,  which  is  far  better."  The  day  two  weeks  previous 
to  his  death  he  had  returned  home  from  a  month's  visit  to 
Tennessee,  where  he  had  been  activelv  enorao;ed  in  assistinjij 
his  son  with  his  communions.  The  sermons  he  preached 
were  among  the  best  and  ablest  of  his  life.  lie  preached, 
during  that  visit,  fifteen  sermons  in  twenty-four  days. 
There  were  a  few  thinsiis  in  his  conduct  and  words  that 
seemed  as  if  he  had  premonitions  of  his  approaching  end. 
In  the  closing  remarks  of  his  last  sermon  at  Solomon's 
church,  Greene  county,  Tenn.,  he  told  the  people  that  he 
did  not  expect  to  preach  for  them  again,  although  he  was 
the  Pastor-elect  of  the  conore^-ation. 

Returning  home,  he  spent  several  days  in  rehearsing  the 
occurrences  of  the  visit,  which  he  seemed  to  have  greatly 
enjoyed.  His  heart  and  lips  were  full  of  Tennessee  in  his 
last  sickness.  His  last  ministerial  act  was  catechising  a 
class  of  young  persons  at  Grace  church,  N.  C.  His  last 
medical  act  was  setting  the  broken  arm  of  a  little  boy,  on 
the  evening  of  his  return  from  catechising. 

On  Sunday  morning  he  was  preparing  to  go  to  churcli. 
He  had  two  appointments  for  that  day  six  miles  apart.  He 
was  feeling  very  unwell,  yet  had  his  horse  ready  and  over- 
coat on,  although  in  mid-summer,  and  was  in  the  act  of  start- 
ing, when  he  Avas  seized  with  a  severe  chill.  The  idea  of 
preaching  was  abandoned.  He  did  not  rise  again  from  the 
bed  to  which  he  that  morning  retired. 

His  disease  was  dysentery,  coupled  with  a  bilious  attack, 
and  provoked  by  physical  and  nervous  prostration.  He  was 
sick  ten  days,  as  he  himself  predicted.     In  two  days  after 


REV.  ALFRED   J.  FOX,  M,  D.  79 

the  commencement  of  his  illness,  the  physicians  despaired 
of  his  life.  A  few  days  he  was  delirious  from  the  medi- 
cines ;  but  for  several  days  previous  to  his  death  he  was 
perfectly  calm  and  sensible.  During  the  moments  of  de- 
lirium he  talked  of  his  "  good  and  obedient  children,"  gave 
profuse  quotations  of  Scripture,  and  spoke  frequently  of 
affairs  pertaining  to  the  Church. 

He  seemed  entirely  satisfied  with  his  spiritual  prepara- 
tion. When  asked  by  tenderest  affection,  "Do  you  feel 
ready  to  die  ?"  he  answered :  "  0  yes  !  I  have  been  ready 
for  fifty  years."  He  always  seemed  ready  so  far  as  his 
own  soul's  interests  were  concerned.  He  relied  fully  upon 
the  promises  of  God's  Word,  and  met  death  without  a  fear 
of  his  terrors,  and  without  a  doubt  as  to  the  blissful  real- 
ities of  the  eternal  world.  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth,"  was  only  one  of  the  many  passages  he  recited  as 
positive  evidence  of  the  reality  of  his  objects  of  faith. 

Alienated  friends  had  been  reconciled,  and  one  of  his 
last  utterances  was,  "I  die  in  peace  with  all  mankind." 
During  his  illness,  when  asked  of  his  condition,  he  ex- 
pressed the  belief  that  he  would  get  well.  He  knew  that 
he  was  very  ill,  and  made  requests  in  case  he  died. 

On  Monday  evening  indications  of  speedy  dissolution 
began  to  appear  to  all.  The  physicians  said  he  would  die 
before  midnight.  The  pulse  at  his  wrists  were  no  longer 
distinguishable  from  the  pulse  of  the  finger  tips.  He  was 
perfectly  quiet.  In  the  early  morning  his  son,  one  of  the 
physicians,  who  was  sitting  near  his  side,  perceived  a 
difference  in  his  respirations.  He  knew  the  end  had  come. 
He  summoned  the  family  quickly  to  his  side.  They  had 
scarcely  surrounded  the  bed,  until  his  last  breath  had 
gone.  On  the  morning  of  June  10th,  at  fifteen  minutes 
past  five  o'clock,  he  calmly  passed  into  eternity.     He  died 


80  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

as  one  passing  into  a  deep  sleep,  -without  a  moan,  a  tremor 
or  a  sigh. 

On  the  following  day  he  was  buried  at  Salem  church, 
Lincoln  county,  N.  C,  where  he  was  ordained  to  the  office 
of  pastor  in  1838,  and  of  which  he  had  been  pastor  without 
interval  for  twenty-eight  years.  The  funeral  discourse, 
from  Numbers  xxiii.  10,  was  preached  by  Rev.  R.  A. 
Yoder,  who  spoke  most  aifectionately  of  the  dead,  of  his 
character  and  the  good  he  had  done.  He  was  assisted  by 
Rev.  J.  ^I.  Smith,  who  made  some  appropriate  remarks. 
Although  "the  weather  was  inclement  ard  in  the  midst  of 
harvest,  there  was  a  very  large  congregation  present,  to  pay 
a  last  tribute  of  respect  to  an  aged  and  venerable  minister 
of  the  gospel."  The  entire  community,  including  those  of 
other  faiths,  mourned  the  loss  of  one  of  its  best  members. 
For  thirty  years  he  had  lived  and  labored  among  them, 
serving  them  in  various  capacities.  His  influence  renehed 
into  every  department,  and  his  ministrations  had  been  car- 
ried into  every  home.  Suddenly  he  is  stricken  down,  and 
all  stand  stunned  by  the  blow.  It  was  a  touching  scene  at 
his  funeral,  where  persons  gathered  from  various  sections, 
some  more  than  twenty  miles  in  private  conve3^ances,  and 
stood  as  common  mourners  around  his  bier.  They  lingered 
gazing  at  his  pale  face  as  if  he  were  a  father  or  a  brother, 
and  mothers  lifted  up  their  little  children  to  see  once  more 
one  who  had  been  such  a  faithful  minister  and  friend. 
"His  place  cannot  be  filled"  is  yet  the  sincere  tribute  of 
all  who  knew  him.  The  announcement  of  his  death  carried 
sadness  over  the  large  section  in  which  he  lived,  and  to 
friendly  hearts  in  many  States.  Many  months  passed 
before  his  friends  at  Salem  church  ceased  to  linger  around 
his  grave  Sabbatli  after  Sabbatli,  as  if  drawn  to  its  sacred 
dust  ])y  the  tenderest  attraction. 


81 

Rev.  Prof.  J.  C.  Barb,  of  Whitestown,  Indiana,  thus 
writes:  "The  announcement  of  the  death  of  Rev.  A.  J. 
Fox,  M.  D.,  carries  sadness  to  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew 
him.     A  great  and  good  man  has  fallen." 

Rev.  A.  J.  Brown,  D.  D.,  of  Tennessee,  says:  "The 
death  of  this  venerable  servant  of  God  has  thrown  a  deep 
gloom  over  his  numerous  friends.  My  associations  with 
him  were  long,  intimate  and  pleasant.  I  respected,  ad- 
mired and  loved  him  while  living,  and  now  that  he  is  gone, 
I  should  do  violence  to  my  feelings,  were  I  not  to  pay  a 
feeble  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory." 

In  the  obituary  notice,  Rev.  R.  A.  Yoder  says  :  "An  em- 
inently successful  career  has  closed  with  his  life,  and  at  his 
death  the  State  and  community  have  lost  a  valuable  citizen, 
the  church  and  synod  an  able,  active  and  energetic  minister, 
and  the  family  a  kind  father  and  dear  husband. 

"By  his  Svorks  of  faith  and  labors  of  love,'  he  *  being 
dead  yet  speaketh.'  The  souls  whom  he  has  been  instrumen- 
tal in  saving,  the  churches  which  he  has  helped  to  build,  the 
brethren  whom  he  has  counseled,  the  voice  of  pen  and  pul- 
pit, all  speak.  'Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord 
from  henceforth ;  yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest 
from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them.'  'Pre- 
cious in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his  saints.' 
'  Mark  the  perfect  man,  and  behold  the  upright ;  for  the 
end  of  that  man  is  peace.' 

"  He  has  been  called  to  his  reward,  and  is  now  in  the 
felloAvship  of  angels  and  saints,  around  the  throne  of  God. 
He  '  fought  a  good  fight,'  he  '  kept  the  faith,'  and  now  he 
wears  the  victor's  crown." 

Testimonials  of  respect  were  written  and  published  by  his 
congregations  at  Hickory  and  Salem,  N.  C,  and  by  the 
4^ 


82  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennessee  Synod,  in  its  six*-y-fourth 
annual  convention. 

A  neat  monument  of  Rutland  (Yt.)  marble  stands  at  the 
head  of  his  grave.  The  lower  base  is  beautiful  granite,  and 
the  upper  is  marble.  From  the  summit  of  this  rises  a  round 
shaft  of  five  feet,  of  exquisite  beauty  and  polish.  The  whole 
monument  is  ten  feet  and  three  inches  high.  Upon  two 
sides  is  the  following  inscription : 

Rev.  a.  J.  FOX,  M.  D., 

Born  Sept.  6,  1817 ;  Died  June  10,  1884. 

Aged  66  yrs.,  9  mos.,  4  days. 

He  was  an  earnest  and  faithful  Lutheran  minister  for 
forty-seven  years,  and  for  thirty-three  a  successful  physician. 
His  labors  were  richly  blessed,  and  he  now  rests.  He  loved 
the  truth,  and  his  faith  never  wavered. 

"I  know  that  my  Redeemer  livetli.'' 

Such  was  the  life  and  character  of  this  venerated  servant 
of  God,  whose  memory  we  love  to  revere,  whose  virtues 
may  be  the  common  heritage  of  all.  His  name  is  written 
in  heaven — his  worth  is  cherished  on  the  earth  !  Let  us  be 
grateful  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  for  the  services 
he  rendered — for  the  example  he  has  left  us.  His  memory 
cannot  die.  The  influence  of  his  character  survives  the  dis- 
solution of  his  body,  and  will  continue  unfading  and  immor- 
tal.    God  grant  that  his  mantle  may  fall  upon  us. 

"Rest,  therefore,  thou 
Whose  early  guidance  trained  my  infant  steps — 
Rest,  in  the  bosom  of  God,  till  the  brief  slcc^ 
Of  death  is  over,  and  a  happier  life 
Shall  dawn  to  waken  thine  insensible  dust." 


APPENDIX  A, 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  CONFLICT,  VICTORY  AND  REWARD. 

Memorial  Sermon  on  the  death  of  Rev.  Alfred  J.  Fox^ 
M.  i>.,  delivered  in  Salem  Churchy  Cocke  county^ 
Tenn.,  June  7th,  1885,  hy  Rev.  Abel  J.  Brown,  D.  D. 

Text  :  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I 
have  kept  the  faith  ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  unto 
ine  in  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  that  love  his 
appearing. — 2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8. 

OT.  PAUL  was  the  author  of  our  text.  The  circum- 
^^  stances  under  which  he  penned  it  were  peculiar  and 
solemn.  He  was  at  that  time  a  prisoner,,  for  "the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus  and  his  word,"  in  the  city  of  Rome,  closely 
confined  and  chained  down  in  a  gloomy  and  loathsome  dun- 
geon, with  the  almost  certain  prospect  of  speedy  martyr- 
dom. To  this  fact  he  very  feelingly  alludes  in  the  verse 
preceding  the  text.  "  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and 
the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand."  His  mental  exer- 
cises— his  feelings  and  prospects  under  these  trying  circum- 
stances, find  vent  in  the  lanojuao-e  of  the  text. 

Paul  was  a  representative  Christian,  as  well  as  a  model 
minister  of  the  gospel ;  and  the  facts  in  his  Christian  life 
and  experience,  and  his  feelings  and  prospects  in  view  of 
the  near  approach  of  death  and  the  world  to  come,  arc  not 
peculiar  to  him,  or  any  favored  class  of  God's  people,  but 

(83) 


84  APPENDIX    A. 

are  substantially  repeated  in  the  life  and  experience  of 
every  child  of  God.  As  the  Christian  nears  the  Jordan  of 
death,  and  scans,  as  he  must  at  such  a  time  as  this,  his  past 
life,  and  peers  into  the  future,  he  adopts  as  his  own  the  lan- 
guage of  our  text.  Such,  are  we  assured,  was  the  case 
with  our  departed  brother  in  the  ministry,  to  whose  mem- 
ory we  this  day  pay  a  feeble  tribute  of  respect,  as  he 
passed  "through  the  dark  valley  and  shadow  of  death;" 
and  it  is  for  this,  amongst  other  reasons,  that  we  have 
chosen  the  words  of  our  text  as  the  guide  to  our  thoughts 
on  this  mournful  occasion. 
We  have  in  our  text : 

I.  A  DELINEATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN'S  CONDITION  AND 
COURSE  THROUGH  LIFE ;    and 

II.  An  expression  of  his  feelings  and  prospects  IN 

VIEW  OF  DEATH  AND  THE  WORLD  TO  COME. 

To  the  discussion  of  these  particulars,  as  set  forth  in  the 
words  of  the  text,  shall  we  mainly  direct  your  attention, 
and  close 

III.  With  such  reference  to  the  life,  character  and 

PASTORAL  WORK  OF  THE  DECEASED  AS  WE  MAY  DEEM  PROPER. 

I.  We  have  in  the  text  a  delineation  of  the  Chris- 
tian's CONDITION  AND  COURSE  THR0U<iH  LIFE. 

This  is  expressed  in  the  words:  "I  have  fought  a  good 
fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith."  It 
matters  not  in  what  particular  enterprise  we  may  engage,  it 
is  always  important,  if  we  would  prosecute  it  successfully 
and  pleasantly,  that  we  should,  in  the  very  outset,  make 
ourselves  as  fully  as  possible  acquainted  with  its  nature  and 
the  difficulties  ordinarily  connected  with  its  prosecution,  as 
well  as  anticipate  others  which  may  from  time  to  time  arise. 
Without  such  precaution  we  arc  liable  to  disappointment, 
and   may   be  driven  in  despair  to  abandon   the   pursuit  in 


APPENDIX    A.  85 

which  wc  have  embarked,  in  the  very  midst  of  our  opera- 
tions. 

The  course  indicated  is  not  only  proper  in  pursuits  merely 
secular  and  temporal,  but  is  preeminently  important  in  the 
outset  of  the  Christian  life.  Before  we  undertake  it,  we 
should  fully  understand  its  nature  and  requirements,  as  well 
as  all  the  difficulties  involved  in  its  successful  prosecution. 
Such  is  the  course  recommended  by  the  Saviour  to  all  such 
as  would  become  His  followers.  He  advises  them  to  sit 
down,  before  they  take  this  important  step,  and  deliberately 
count  the  cost  of  discipleship,  and  then  in  view  of  all  the 
difficulties  involved,  determine  their  course. 

The  grand  leading  idea  contained  in  that  part  of  the  text, 
now  under  discussion,  is,  that  heaven,  luith  its  ineffable  and 
inconceivable  (jlories  and  bliss,  cannot  be  gained  ivithout  a 
powerful  and  persistent  effort  on  the  j^art  of  the  Christian. 
His  life  is  not  a  life  of  inertion,  but  of  ceaseless  activity  ; 
not  of  ease,  but  of  hardship  ;  not  of  indolence,  but  of  toil ; 
not  of  sensual  indulgence,  but  of  self-denial ;  nor  is  it  in  its 
internal  or  external  relations,  a  life  of  peace,  but  of  con- 
tinual  and  mighty  conflict.  The  words  of  command  and  ex- 
hortation from  the  Saviour  to  every  follower  of  his,  are: 
Work,  labor,  strive,  run,  fight.  "  Son,  go  work  in  my 
vineyard  to-day."  ''Labor  not  for  the  meat  that  perisheth, 
but  for  the  meat  that  endure th  unto  everlastino;  life." 
''Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate."  "Run  with  pa- 
tience the  race  set  before  you."  " Fig] it  the  good  fight  of 
faith."  Such  are  the  conditions  and  requirements  of  Chris- 
tian life,  as  delineated  by  the  pen  of  inspiration,  and  actual- 
ized, according  to  the  text,  in  the  experience  of  St.  Paul, 
and  we  may  safely  add,  of  every  saint. 

In  our  text  Christian  life  is  represented  under  the  figures 
of  a  race  and  a  conflict — both  expressive  of  the  same  gen- 


86  APPENDIX    A. 

eral  idea.  Let  us  contemplate  it  for  a  few  moments  in  these 
aspects. 

It  is  a  race.  So  Paul  says  to  the  Hebrew  Christians: 
"Let  us  run  with  patience  tlie  race  set  before  us;"  to  the 
Corinthians:  "We  run  not  uncertainly  ;"  and  in  our  text: 
"I  have  finished  my  coursed  The  Christian  cannot  safely 
pass  along  through  life  listlessly,  leisurely  and  in  inglorious 
ease.  His  condition  and  his  work,  his  duties  and  his  in- 
terests, all  alike  demand  eternal  vigilance,  ceaseless  ac- 
tivity, and  untiring  effort,  and  call  into  requisition  all  his 
moral  powers,  until  the  goal  shall  have  been  reached  and 
the  crown  won.  All  this  is  clearly  implied  in  the  very 
word  race^  which  both  designates  and  characterizes  his 
course  through  life.  It  expresses  the  highest  effort  and 
the  speediest  movement  in  locomotion  of  which  we  are  ca- 
pable. Its  import  is  beautifully  illustrated  in  the  Olympic 
races  from  which  the  figure  in  the  text  is  borrowed.  In 
preparing  for  these  the  contestant  had  to  endure  the  most 
rigid  discipline ;  and  in  running  the  race  he  was  not  only 
required  to  disencumber  himself  of  every  weight  which 
could  possibly  imj)ede  his  progress,  or  endanger  his  suc- 
cess, but  to  exert  his  mightiest  energies.  He  was  required 
to  make  a  powerful,  a  well-directed  and  persistent  effort. 

The  same  general  idea  is  no  less  clearly  and  fully  implied 
in  the  representation  of  Christian  life  as  a  warfare.  It  is  a 
conflict.  It  is  not  simply  an  effort,  however  vigorous  and 
persistent,  without  opposition  and  in  concert  with  friendly 
and  kindred  powers;  but  it  is  an  effort  in  conflict  with 
opposing  hostile  powers,  arrayed  against  us,  determined, 
if  possible,  to  defeat  us  in  the  accomplishment  of  our  high 
and  holy  purpose,  and  ruin  us  forever.  The  very  word 
fight,  by  which  Paul's  Christian  career  is  designated  and 
characterized,  like  that  other  word  used  for  the  same  pur- 


APPENDIX    A.  87 

pose,  clearly  and  fully  implies  all  this ;  and  this  view  of  the 
subject  is  confirmed  by  the  uniform  testimony  of  God's  Word 
and  the  universal  experience  of  His  people.  We  are  ex- 
horted to  ''''fight  the  good  fight  of  faith" — to  "^^ar  a  good 
warfare;"  and  Paul  assures  us  in  our  text  that  he  had 
'•'-fought  a  good  fight." 

A  state  of  warfare  implies  enemies,  and  these  the  Chris- 
tian has.  If  he  would  meet  them  successfully  on  the  field 
of  conflict,  he  must  know  them,  their  number,  their  mode  of 
warfare,  their  munitions  and  their  resources.  His  enemies 
are  not  few,  but  numerous ;  not  artless,  but  wily ;  not  feeble, 
but  powerful.  The  author  of  our  text,  an  inspired  Apostle, 
himself  a  veteran  of  the  cross,  who  has  successfully  fought 
life's  great  battle,  thus  enumerates  the  Christian's  enemies: 
"We  wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  princi- 
palities, against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness 
of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places." 
Our  enemies  are  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil. 

The  devil  is  an  enemy  to  God's  people,  and  he  is  no  mere 
imaginary  creature,  or  evil  propensity  of  our  fallen  human- 
ity personified,  as  some  would  have  us  believe,  but  a  real 
personage.  "Be  sober,  be  vigilant,  because  your  adver- 
sary, the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh  about,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour."  He  tried  Job  severely  and  pain- 
fully ;  he  desired  to  have  Peter  that  he  "  might  sift  him  as 
wheat;"  and  he  even  assailed  God's  own  immaculate  Son, 
in  the  days  of  His  humiliation  upon  earth,  with  the  most 
powerful  and  alluring  of  all  temptations. 

The  loorld  is  an  enemy  to  the  Christian.  It  hates  and 
opposes  God  and  His  cause  and  His  people.  "  Marvel  not, 
my  brethren,  if  the  world  hate  you."  It  hates  and  perse- 
cutes the  Saviour  and  His  followers.  "If  the  world  hate 
you,"  says  Jesus,  "ye  know  that  it  hated  Me."     "If  they 


88  APPENDIX    A. 

have  persecuted  Me,  they  Avill  persecute  you  also."  Not 
only  the  men  of  the  world,  but  the  world  itself — the  things 
of  the  world,  its  riches,  its  honors,  and  its  pleasures — are 
insidious  and  dangerous  foes  to  the  Christian,  and  the  more 
so  because  of  our  intimate  and  inseparable  connection  with 
the  world,  in  all  our  material  and  temporal  relations  and 
interests.  For  this  reason  are  we  so  frequently  and  earn- 
estly warned  against  the  love  and  pursuit  of  the  world,  and 
its  seductive  influences.  "  Love  not  the  world,  neither  the 
things  of  the  world.  If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love 
of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."  "They  that  will  be  rich  fall 
into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurt- 
ful lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition." 
"How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  It  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  deli- 
cate and  difficult  of  all  Christian  duties,  to  strike  the  proper 
medium  between  this  world  and  the  world  to  come. 

The  flesh,  too,  is  an  enemy  to  the  Christian.  There  is 
an  eternal  war  between  the  flesh — the  remains  of  the  innate 
depravity  of  the  human  soul — and  the  new  principle  of  holi- 
ness, begotten  in  it  by  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
"  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit,  and  the  spirit  against 
the  flesh ;  and  these  are  contrary  the  one  to  the  other ;  so 
that  ye  cannot  do  the  things  that  ye  would."  "  But  I  see 
another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the  law  of  my 
mind  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin,  which 
is  in  my  members."  It  is  an  enemy  in  some  respects  unlike 
all  others.  It  is  inseparably  connected  with  us.  We  carry 
it  within  us.  It  accompanies  us  at  all  times  and  wherever 
we  go,  by  day  and  by  night,  at  home  and  abroad,  in  private 
and  in  public,  when  engaged  in  devotion  as  well  as  when 
employed  in  our  secular  pursuits.  It  almost  constantly 
assails  and  annoys  us.     It  is  a  most  formidable  and  danger- 


APPENDIX    A.  89 

ous  foe.  Well  might  Paul  exclaim:  "  0  wretched  man  that 
I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  hody  of  this  death  ? 
I  thank  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

Such  is  Christian  life.  It  is  not  only  a  condition  of 
ceaseless  activity,  and  toil,  and  self-denial ;  but  it  is  also  a 
state  of  continual  warfare  against  enemies  numerous,  pow- 
erful and  wily. 

But  a  state  of  war  not  only  implies  enemies,  as  we  have 
seen,  actively  engaged  in  acts  of  hostility,  but  it  implies  also 
the  need  of  suitable  arms  and  munitions  of  war.  If  the 
parties  engaged  are  anything  like  equally  matched,  arms 
both  offensive  and  defensive  are  imperatively  demanded. 
Certain  and  speedy  defeat  and  utter  ruin  await  the  party 
having  the  temerity  to  join  in  conflict  without  them.  Such 
a  course  is  worse  than  folly — it  is  madness.  The  soldier  of 
the  Cross  does  not  thus  act.  He  is  not  left  in  a  defenceless 
and  hopeless  condition.  He  is  not  required  by  the  authori- 
ities  under  which  and  in  whose  interests  he  fights,  to  wage 
war  with  an  enemy  so  numerous  and  formidable  as  that 
against  which  he  fights,  without  suitable  armor.  He  has 
been  amply  provided  for  in  this  as  well  as  all  other  respects. 
He  is  completely  equipped,  and  is  ready  for  any  service  that 
may  be  demanded  of  him,  or  for  any  emergency  that  may 
arise.  His  armor  is  very  fully  and  minutely  described  by 
St.  Paul,  Eph.  vi.  13-18.  "  Wherefore  take  unto  you  the 
whole  armor  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  in  the  evil 
day,  and  having  done  all  to  stand.  Stand,  therefore,  having 
your  loins  girt  about  with  truth,  and  having  on  the  breast- 
plate of  righteousness,  and  your  feet  shod  with  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  gospel  of  peace  ;  above  all,  taking  the  shield  of 
faith,  wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts 
of  the  wicked.  And  take  the  helmet  of  salvation  and  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God." 


90  APPENDIX    A. 

It  Avill  be  seen  from  this  description  of  the  Christian  ar- 
mor, and  should  be  carefully  observed,  that  it  is  not  of 
human,  or  even  angelic  device  and  fabrication,  and  therefore 
possibly  imperfect  and  unreliable.  It  is  the  armor  of  God. 
''Wherefore  take  unto  you  the  whole  armor  of  God."  It 
is  of  His  contrivance  and  construction.  It  is  therefore  per- 
fectly adapted,  in  unerring  wisdom  and  goodness,  to  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  designed ;  and  when  used  as  God 
Himself  directs,  it  may  be  implicitly  relied  upon.  Like  all 
the  means  of  its  divine  author,  when  rightly  used,  it  never 
fails,  it  cannot  fail  to  accomplish  its  end.  The  Christian 
soldier  is  strong  and  invincible,  but  not  in  his  own  power 
and  resources.  Of  himself  he  is  utterly  helpless  and  can 
do  nothing.  But  he  is  strong  in  the  Lord,  and,  the  power 
of  His  might,  clad  in  the  panoply  of  heaven.  Thus  clad  and 
aided  he  can  do  all  things  which  God  requires  of  him,  and 
his  interests  demand.  But  we  repeat,  the  panoply  of 
heaven  to  answer  its  end,  must  be  rightly  used.  It  must  be 
used  in  humble  dependence  upon  Almighty  God,  and  in 
earnest  prayer  and  supplication  to  Him — "  praying  always 
with  all  prayer  and  supplication  to  Him."  Thus  equipped 
and  thus  acting,  the  soldier  of  the  cross  bids  proud  defiance 
to  the  most  powerful  assaults  of  his  enemies.  He  is  invin- 
cible and  invulnerable.     His  success  and  victory  are  insured. 

The  fight  of  Paul  was  a  good  fiyht.  *'  I  have  fought  a 
good  fight."  He  may  refer  either  to  the  moral  character 
of  the  fiojht  itself,  or  to  the  manner  in  which  he  fou^i^ht  it. 
In  either  sense  his  statement  is  true. 

The  fight  of  every  Christian  is  morally  a  good  fight.  So 
Paul  elsewhere  characterizes  it.  "  Fight  the  good  fight  of 
faith  "  It  is  good  in  every  aspect  in  which  it  can  be 
viewed.  Tlic  cause  in  which  it  is  fought,  its  whole  tendency, 
as  well  as  the  character  of  all  engaged  in  it,  are  all  good. 


APPENDIX    A.  91 

The  cause  is  the  cause  of  God  against  the  devil ;  of  holiness 
against  sin ;  of  good  against  evil ;  of  light  against  darkness  ; 
of  heaven  against  hell.  Its  whole  tendency  is  good  and 
only  good.  It  ameliorates  man's  condition  both  here  and 
hereafter.  It  elevates  him  in  the  scale  of  intellectual  and 
moral  excellence.  It  saves  him  from  sin  and  all  its  terrible 
consequences.  It  makes  him  happier  in  this  life  and  fits 
him  for  that  heaven  in  the  life  to  come,  in  which  the  human 
soul,  entirely  freed  from  sin,  shall  realize  that  perfect  bliss 
for  which  it  was  designed,  of  which  it  is  capable,  and  for 
which  it  pants.  It  is  the  cause  which  enlists  the  sympathies 
and  the  energies  of  all  holy  intelligences.  God  the  Father, 
who  devised  the  wondrous  plan  for  the  recovery  of  man 
from  the  ruins  of  the  apostacy  ;  God  the  Son,  Avho  veiled 
the  glories  of  His  divinity  in  garments  of  our  inferior  clay, 
and  redeemed  us  with  His  own  precious  blood,  shed  upon 
Calvary  ;  God  the  Spirit,  who  renews  and  sanctifies  the 
soul  and  makes  it  meet  for  heaven ;  holy  angels,  who  dwell 
in  the  immediate  presence  of  God  and  rejoice  over  one  sin- 
ner that  repents,  and  minister  unto  them  who  shall  be  heirs 
of  salvation  ;  and  all  good  men  upon  earth — all,  all  heartily 
co-operate  in  the  promotion  of  this  great  cause.  Surely  it 
must  be  a  good  fight. 

Wlien  Paul  claims  that  he  fought  a  good  fight,  he  may, 
and  doubtless  does  refer  to  the  marmer  in  which  he  fought 
it.  It  was  in  this  sense  a  good  fight.  He  acquitted  him- 
self manfully  on  all  occasions  and  under  all  circumstances, 
as  a  soldier  of  the  cross.  He  was  at  all  times  loyal  to  his 
commander,  and  true  to  his  cause.  He  was  ready  for  any 
service  however  difficult  and  dangerous,  that  might  be  re- 
quired of  him.  The  will  of  his  commander  was  the  rule  of 
his  duty.  From  the  moment  of  his  conversion  to  the  hour 
of  his  death,  the  only  question  with  him  was,  "  Lord,  what 


92  APPENDIX    A. 

wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?"  and  having  ascertained  his  duty, 
he  cheerfully  and  promptly,  faithfully  and  fearlessly  per- 
formed it,  utterly  regardless  of  consequences.  He  met  every 
difficulty,  faced  every  foe,  braved  every  danger,  and  en- 
dured every  hardship  without  a  murmur.  When  bonds  and 
imprisonment,  scourging,  and  death  in  its  worst  and  most 
appalling  forms  awaited  him,  he  could  bravely  say :  "  None 
of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto 
myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the 
ministry  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify 
the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God."  No  enemy  ever  saw  his 
back  in  battle  ;  in  the  face  of  no  foe  did  he  ever  quail.  He 
knew  no  fear,  he  shirked  no  duty,  he  shunned  no  danger ; 
he  was  always  in  the  midst  of  the  hottest  of  the  fight,  and 
when  he  fell,  he  fell  in  full  panoply,  at  the  post  of  duty,  in 
the  front  ranks,  with  his  face  to  the  enemy ;  he  fell  all  cov- 
ered with  glory,  and  with  the  notes  of  victory  still  lingering 
on  his  lips.     Surely,  surely  did  Paul  fight  a  good  fight! 

Paul  not  only  fought  a  good  fight  and  finished  his  course, 
but  he  also  Icept  the  faith.  "  I  have  kept  the  faith."  This 
was  the  great  secret  of  his  success  as  a  soldier  of  the  cross. 
These  words  suggest  to  our  minds  two  important  inquiries : 
What  is  the  faith  ?  and  what  is  it  to  keep  it  ? 

What  is  the  faith?  In  the  word  of  God  this  term  has  a 
technical  and  well-defined  meaning.  It  means,  not  the  pe- 
culiar state  of  tlie  mind,  called  faith,  in  reference  to  God, 
or  the  Saviour,  or  any  particular  doctrine  or  doctrines  of 
divine  revelation,  or  any  mental  state  or  exercise  whatever, 
but  it  means  the  doctrines  themselves  of  the  Christian  sys- 
tem. These  are  the  faith.  So  we  read  of  "the  faith  of 
the  Gospel,"  "  the  mystery  of  the  faith,"  "  the  faitli  once 
delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  "the  unity  of  tlic  faith." 
"There  is  one  Lord,  one  fiiith,  one  baptism,"  and  wo  are 


APPENDIX    A.  93 

exhorted  to  "contend  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints." 

Let  it  be  distinctly  observed,  that  this  faith  is  not  any 
one,  or  several  particular  doctrines  of  the  Christian  system, 
however  important  they  may  be  in  our  judgment,  and 
clearly  revealed,  or  however  universally  received  by  Chris- 
tendom, and  much  less  is  it  any  mental  exercise ;  but  the 
faith  embraces  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  system  in  its 
entireness,  considered  as  one  grand  whole.  Nothing  differ- 
ent from  this — nothing  either  more  or  less  than  this,  is  the 
faith.  It  is  a  grand  system  of  doctrines  in  which  there  is 
no  deficiency,  no  redundancy,  no  defect.  It  is  not  the  dis- 
covery, invention  or  contrivance  of  men,  or  any  creature 
like  ourselves  fallible,  but  it  is  the  v»'ork  of  God,  and  like 
all  His  works,  it  bears  the  impress  of  infinite  wisdom  and 
goodness,  and  is  absolutely  perfect.  It  is  perfectly  adapted 
to  the  accompHshment  of  the  grand  end  for  which  it  was 
designed.  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the 
soul."  So  Paul  believed,  and  taught,  and  acted  at  all 
times  strictly  in  accordance  with  his  convictions  and  teach- 
ings." '•'All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is 
profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  in- 
struction in  righteousness  ;  that  the  man  of  God  may  be 
perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works."  "  The 
holy  scriptures  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation." 
Paul  was  fully  assured  that  the  word  of  God  is  the  very 
embodiment  of  all  religious  truth — that  it  is  our  privilege 
as  well  as  our  duty  to  know  this  truth,  and  that  when 
known  and  cordially  embraced,  it  liberates  us  from  the 
thralldom  of  sin,  and  fits  us  for  heaven.  He  was  fully  per- 
suaded that  there  is  a  wide  difference  between  truth  and 
error — that  the  one  is  always  safe  and  beneficial,  and  that 
the  other  is  always  dangerous  and  deleterious.     He  earn- 


94  APPENDIX    A. 

estly  exhorts  Timothy:  "Take  heed  unto  thyself  and  the 
doctrine:  continue  in  them ;"  and  assigns  as  a  reason  for 
this  course,  that  by  so  doing  he  should  "both  save  himself 
and  them  that  heard  him."  He  solemnly  assures  us  in  view 
of  his  final  account,  that  one  ground  of  his  hope  of  heaven 
was  hecaut-e  he  had  "kept  the  faith."  lie  not  only  em- 
braced in  his  heart  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  system  in 
its  entireness,  but  he  confessed  them  with  his  mouth,  and 
proclaimed  and  maintained  and  defended  them  in  his  minis- 
try against  all  opposition,  and  that  too  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
We  have  in  the  teaching  and  life  of  Paul,  in  these  respects, 
a  clear  and  emphatic  disavowal,  and  most  withering  rebuke 
of  that  spirit  of  latitudinarianism  so  eminently  characteristic 
of  the  present  age,  that  would,  have  us  believe  that  it  mat- 
ters but  little,  if  at  all,  what  one  believes,  provided  only  he 
is  honest  in  his  belief,  or  that  he  can  be  just  as  good  a 
Christian,  and  as  certain  of  heaven,  with  its  highest  happi- 
ness, in  one  reputedly  orthodox  church  as  another. 

AVe  have,  then,  in  St.  Paul,  as  his  character  is  delineated 
in  the  text,  a  representative  Christian  and  Christian  minis- 
ter of  the  purest  and  highest  type.  His  Christian  and  min- 
isterial character  was  symmetrical  and  beautifully  rounded 
in  all  its  parts.  It  is  no  mere  ideal  character,  but  a  real 
one,  and  such  as  all  may  attain,  and  for  which  they  should 
faithfully  and  earnestly  strive.  He  was  sound  iri  the  faith 
and  pure  in  life.  He  consecrated  himself  to  the  service  of 
God  and  the  good  of  his  fellow-men.  He  battled  faithfully 
and  manfully,  perseveringly  and  successfully  against  all  his 
enemies,  and  all  the  enemies  of  the  cross.  In  his  own  lan- 
guage, and  laconic  and  terse  style,  he  fought  a  good  fiyht^ 
he  jiiiialmd  his  course,  he  kept  the  faith. 

We  have  in  our  text, 

II.  The  feelings  and  prospects  of  the  Christian  in 
VIEW  OF  death. 


APPENDIX    A.  95 

We  have  briefly  traced  the  Christian's  condition  and 
course  through  life,  as  delineated  bj  the  pen  of  inspiration, 
and  practically  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Paul.  We  will  now 
contemplate  him  in  the  close  of  life.  Paul  had,  as  he 
thought  at  the  time  he  Avrotc  our  text,  run  his  race  and  fin. 
ished  his  work.  lie  now  stands  on  the  verge  of  the  spirit 
world.  It  is  a  solemn  time,  lie  scans,  as  every  one  must 
at  such  a  time  as  this,  his  past  life,  and  peers  into  the 
future.  Eternity,  with  all  its  untried  and  dread  realities, 
rises  vividly  to  his  view.  His  past  life,  in  its  connection 
with  the  life  to  come,  passes  rapidly  in  solemn  review  before 
him.  But  his  mind  is  not  in  the  least  disconcerted.  No 
feelings  of  unavailing  regret  for  a  life  misspent,  nor  gloomy 
forebotiings  of  the  future,  disturb  his  soul.  With  calmness 
and  complacence  he  contemplates  the  past;  with  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory,  he  anticipates  the  future.  His 
feelings  and  prospects,  under  the  trying  circumstances  of 
the  case,  find  utterance  in  the  language  of  the  text:  "I 
have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have 
kept  the  faith;  heyiceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  eroivn 
of  righteousness^  wliicli  the  Lord^  the  righteous  Judge, 
shall  give  vnto  me  in  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but 
unto  all  them  that  love  his  appearing." 

These  words  are  replete  with  encouragement  and  comfort 
to  every  child  of  God.  Indulge  us  for  a  few  moments 
whilst  we  shall  attempt  to  unfold  some  of  their  beauties. 
They  assure  us  of  the  certainty,  and  the  greatness,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Christian's  reward.  He  does  not  serve  God 
for  naught.  God  does  not  require  this  of  him.  Jesus 
promised  His  disciples,  who  had  forsaken  all  to  follow  Him, 
manifold  more  in  this  world,  and  in  the  world  to  come, 
everlasting  life.  Moses,  the  illustrious  leader  of  Israel's 
embattled  hosts,  who,  in  the  maturity  of  manhood,  in  view 


90  APPENDIX    A. 

of  all  the  consequences  involved,  "  refused  to  be  called  the 
son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,"  "  had  respect  unto  the  re- 
ward." The  reward  which  awaits  the  Christian  is  perfect 
bliss,  arising  from  the  absence  of  everything  which  can 
mar  and  the  presence  of  every  thing  which  can  contribute 
to  the  happiness  of  the  human  soul.  As  set  forth  in  the 
text — 

The  reward  of  the  Christian  soldier  will  consist  partly  in 
the  reception  of  the  highest  honors  from  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  judge.  This  will  be  a  chief  ingredient  in  the 
cup  of  his  joy  and  bliss.  "  There  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown^^  which  shall  be  conferred  upon  me  at  that  day.  In 
the  Olympic  games  a  crown  was  a  badge  of  victory,  as  well 
as  of  the  honors  and  emoluments  which  inure  to  the  victor. 
So  it  is  to  the  victor  in  life's  great  battle.  But  a  crown  as 
promised  in  the  text,  denotes  more  than  simple  victory  and 
its  accustomed  honors.  It  is  a  badge  of  royal  honoi\  au- 
thority and  emolument.  It  is  an  ornament  worn  by  kings 
and  other  mighty  sovereigns  as  a  badge  of  dignity  and  au- 
thority. Royal  dignity  and  authority  await  the  Christian.. 
To  his  apostles  Jesus  said,  "  Yerily  I  say  unto  you,  ye  that 
have  followed  me,  in  the  regeneration  when  the  son  of  man 
shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  slLall  sit  upon 
tivelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel."  '*  He 
hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God." 

The  Christian's  crown  is  a  crown  of  righteousness.  It  is 
so  styled  in  our  text.  "  He  hath  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness.^^  Earthly  kings  often  win  their  crowns  by 
deeds  of  fraud  and  injustice,  of  oppression  and  cruelty. 
They  wade  through  seas  of  human  blood  to  gain  their 
honors  and  powers.  Their  thrones  are  built  of  the  bones 
and  cemented  with  the  blood  of  slaughtered  millions,  sacri- 
ficed on  the  unhallowed  altars  of  mis<yuided  human  ambition 


APPENDIX   A.  97 

and  folly ;  and  their  crowns  are  crowns  of  iniquity  dyed  in  hu- 
man gore.  It  is  altogether  different  with  the  Christian.  His 
honors,  and  powers,  and  emoluments  have  been  honorably  and 
righteously  attained.  His  crown  has  been  won  in  the  holi- 
est and  best  of  all  causes — the  cause  of  God,  of  holiness,  of  de- 
graded and  suffering  humanity.  It  is  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness, all  radiant  with  celestial  glory.  It  is  a  crown  which 
bespeaks  both  the  nature  of  the  work  in  which  it  was  won, 
and  the  character  of  him  by  whom  it  is  to  be  worn. 

The  Christian's  crown  is  an  enduring  and  an  unfading 
crown.  Earthly  crowns  soon  fade  and  fall  from  the  heads 
of  kings  and  victors.  They  hold  them  by  a  slender  and  un- 
certain tenure,  which  may  at  any  moment  be  broken.  They 
soon  fade,  and  may  at  any  moment  fall  from  the  head  and 
crumble  into  ruins.  They  are  corruptible.  The  Christian's 
crown  is  incorruptible.  It  shall  never  be  taken  from  him 
or  perish,  nor  shall  its  lustre  be  dimmed  by  long  usage  and 
the  lapse  of  years.  But  it  shall  grow  brighter  and  still 
more  glorious  through  the  mighty  sweep  of  everlasting  ages. 

"That  crown  with  peerles  glories  bright, 
Which  shall  new  lustre  boast, 
When  victor's  wreaths  and  monarch's  gems 
Shall  blend  in  common  dust." 

The  Christian's  reward  is  ever-enduring,  and  perhaps  ever- 

increasinor.     It  is  everlastino;  life — a  house  eternal  in  the 

heavens,  an  inheritance    incorruptible,  undefiled  and  that 

fadeth  not  away.    The  city  in  which  he  shall  dwell  is  a  city 

which  "  hath  foundations,  whose  maker  and  builder  is  God." 

It  is  wholly  composed  from  the  foundation  stone  to  the  apex 

of  indestructible  material.     Upon  all  is  written  in  living, 

burning  characters  of  light,  eternal^  eternal.    The  river  of 

life,  which  proceeds  from  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the 

Lamb,  and  flows  through  the  midst  of  the  city,  of  whose 

waters  the  inhabitants   shall  drink  and  never  thirst,  shall 

5 


98  APPENDIX   A. 

never  cease  to  flow,  or  fail  in  the  least.  The  tree  of  life, 
•which  grows  in  the  midst  of  the  city  and  on  either  side  of 
the  river  of  life,  of  whose  life-perpetuating  fruit  the  denizens 
shall  eat  and  never  hunger,  shall  never  die,  nor  wilt,  nor  in 
the  least  decline  nor  fail  to  yield  it  fruits.  The  sun,  which 
illumines  the  city,  and  renders  useless  all  natural  and  arti- 
ficial lights,  shall  never  be  blotted  out,  nor  set,  nor  be 
eclipsed,  nor  in  the  least  obscured. 

The  Christian's  crown,  unlike  all  earthly  crowns,  is  not 
restricted  to  any  particular  individual  or  class  of  men  save 
the  righteous.  The  mighty  chieftains  of  earth  engage  in 
war.  They  strive  in  mighty,  bloody  conflict.  The  wager 
is  a  throne  and  a  crown  ;  but  all  lose  save  one.  In  the 
Grecian  games  as  many  as  chose  might  contend.  But  they 
contended  uncertainly.  But  one  could  win.  There  was 
only  one  prize.  Defeat,  disappointment,  and  perhaps  even 
shame,  awaited  all  others.  It  is  not  so  in  the  Christian  con- 
test. None  need  be  disappointed,  or  fail,  or  be  humiliated. 
Every  one  may  contend,  and  every  one  that  contends  man- 
fully, rightly  and  to  the  end,  shall  assuredly  succeed.  "We 
run  not  uncertainly."  We  "  fight  not  as  one  that  beateth 
the  air."  This  crown,  says  Paul,  "  was  laid  up  not  for  him 
only,  but /or  all  them  that  love  His  appearing  ^ 

The  crown  of  glory  has  been  prepared  in  advance,  and  is 
carefully  and  safely  stored  away.  There  is  laid  up  for  me 
a  crown  of  righteousness.  It  is  laid  up  for  all  who  shall  be 
entitled  to  it.  Jesus  shall  say  to  the  finally  faithful,  at  the 
last  judgment,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  p)repared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world." 

We  may  not  be  able  to  determine  precisely  ivhen  the 
crown  of  righteousness  sliall  be  bestowed.  Paul  simply 
says  that  it  shall  be  given  at  that  day.     Whether  this  refers 


APPENMX    A.  99 

to  the  clrtj  of  his  death,  tlie  time  of  his  departure  referred 
to  in  the  context,  or  to  the  day  of  final  accounts,  is  not  ma- 
terial, nor  shall  we  now  stop  to  inquire.  It  is  enough  for 
us  to  know  that  it  shall  be  bestowed  at  the  proper  time, 
and  on  the  proper  occasion.  It  will  be,  as  the  language  of 
Paul  authorizes  us  to  infer,  a  remarkable  and  a  grand  occa- 
sion— such  an  occasion  as  shall  make  the  recipient  of  the 
crown  conspicuous,  and  bring  to  Him  distinguished  honor. 
Jesus  promised  his  chosen  twelve,  who  had  forsaken  all  for 
His  sake,  that,  having  followed  Him,  in  the  regeneration, 
when  He  should  "  sit  in  the  thrown  of  His  glory,  they  also 
shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel." 

One  thing,  however,  is  certain.  The  Christian  enters 
heaven  immediately  after  death.  Lazarus  was  carried  by 
angels  into  Abraham's  bosom  as  soon  as  his  immortal  spirit 
"  had  shuffled  ofi"this  mortal  coil,"  where  he  was  comforted 
and  received  his  good  things.  Jesus  assured  the  penitent 
thief  upon  the  cross,  that  he  should  that  day  be  with  Him  in 
paradise.  Paul  had  a  desire  to  be  absent  from  the  body 
that  he  might  be  present  with  the  Lord ;  and  in  our  text 
says,  in  the  prospect  of  speedy  death,  ^'' henceforth ^  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness."  To  the  beloved 
disciple  in  the  lonely  isle  of  Patmos,  the  voice  celestial 
said,  "  Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord 
from  henceforth  ;  yea,  saith  the  spirit,  that  they  may  rest 
from  their  labors." 

"  The  eye  that  shuts  in  the  dying  hour 
Will  open  the  next  in  bliss  ; 
The  welcome  will  sound  in  the  heavenly  world 
Ere  the  farewell  is  hushed  in  this. 
We  pass  from  the  clasp  of  loving  friends 
To  the  arms  of  the  loved  and  lost, 
And  the  smiling  faces  will  greet  us  there, 
Which  on  earth  we  valued  most." 


100  APPENDIX    A. 

And  now,  as  promised  in  the  outset,  I  will  close, 

III.  With  such  remarks  in  reference  to  the  life, 

CHARACTER  AND  PASTORAL  WORK  OF  THE  LATE  ReV.  AL- 
FRED J.  Fox,  M.  D.,  AS  I  MAY  DEEM  APPROPRIATE  TO  THIS 
OCCASION. 

This  memorial  service  is  held  in  this  church,  at  the  sug-- 
gestion  and  in  compliance  with  the  request  of  its  members, 
with  the  concurrence  of  its  worthy  pastor,  a  son  of  our 
sainted  brother,  because  Salem  church  was  organized  and 
long  served  by  him  in  his  early  ministry,  and  because  he 
was  at  the  time  of  his  death  its  pastor-elect.  It  is  intended 
as  an  expression  of  their  affectionate  personal  regard  for 
their  lamented  pastor,  of  their  high  and  grateful  apprecia- 
tion of  his  labors  amongst  them,  and  as  a  feeble  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  memory  of  departed  worth. 

I  have  been  chosen  as  the  spokesman  of  this  church  on 
this  interesting  occasion,  because  I  was  not  only  a  warm 
personal  friend  of  Dr.  Fox,  but  especially  because  I  was  his 
cotemporary,  and  was  intimately  acquainted  and  associated 
with  him,  both  professionally  and  socially,  for  nearly  half  a 
century.  I  was  his  senior  in  years  only  six  months,  and 
but  one  year  in  the  ministry.  For  more  than  two  decades 
we  belonged  to  the  same  Synod,  and  besides  meeting  gen- 
erally at  its  annual  conventions  during  this  period,  we  often 
met  and  preached  together  on  other  occasions,  and  mingled 
in  the  social  circle.  I  refer  to  but  one  instance  with  which 
some  of  you  are  familiar.  In  the  spring  of  1842  we  trav- 
eled together  from  North  Carolina  to  Greene  county,  Tenn. 
Forty-three  long  years,  with  all  their  vicissitudes,  have  since 
elapsed,  but  doubtless  some  of  the  original  and  older  mem- 
bers of  this  congregation  will  readily  recall  to  mind  the  facts 
that  we  at  that  time  jointly  shared  the  hospitalities  of  their 
houses,  as  well  as  some  pleasant  and  humorous  incidents 


APPENDIX    A.  101 

that  occurred ;  that  we  preached  together  under  a  beautiful, 
wide-spreading,  umbrageous  oak,  long  since  felled  by  the 
woodman's  axe,  almost  on  the  very  spot  where  this  house 
now  stands,  as  well  as  at  other  points  in  the  surrounding 
country. 

After  the  formation  of  the  Holston  Synod  in  1861,  Dr. 
Fox  and  I  often  met  in  Synods  and  elsewhere,  and  we  main- 
tained an  epistolary  correspondence,  at  irregular  intervals, 
as  our  feelings  prompted  or  some  important  movement  in 
the  Church  in  which  we  were  mutually  interested,  sug- 
gested. The  friendship  formed  between  us  in  the  outset  of 
our  professional  life  was  cemented  and  strengthened  with 
passing  years,  and  continued  without  interruption  or  abate- 
ment till  the  close  of  his  useful  life,  embracing  the  long 
period  of  nearly  half  a  century. 

Most  of  what  I  shall  say  of  Dr.  I  ox  will  be  from  my  own 
personal  knowledge  and  convictions,  and  the  rest  will  be 
gleaned  from  ecclesiastical  records  and  contemporaneous  re- 
ligious periodicals  of  the  Church.  My  task  is  a  very  pleas- 
ant one.  I  am  truly  glad  to  be  able  to  say  much  to  his 
praise  without  flattery  to  his  surviving  relatives  and  friends, 
or  injury  to  the  cause  of  truth. 

I  will  not  claim  for  our  departed  brother  that  he  was 
faultless.  This  we  dare  affirm  of  no  mere  man,  living  or 
dead.  It  would  be  to  say  of  him  that  he  was  not  a  mortal. 
Solomon  was  not  mistaken  when  he  said  :  "  There  is  not  a 
just  man  upon  the  earth  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not.'* 
But  I  can,  with  sincerity  and  truth,  say  of  Dr.  Fox,  that 
there  was  much  in  his  character  to  approve,  admire  and 
commend,  and  but  little  to  censure  and  condemn.  When  he 
passed  away  a  good  man  and  a  prince  in  Israel  fell ;  a 
bright  light  in  the  religious  firmament  was  extinguished ;  a 
brilliant  star  in  the  pulpit  galaxy  set ;  a  vacancy  was  made  in 


102  APPENDIX    A. 

the  Church  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  fill,  and  in  his  family 
which  never  can  be  supplied. 

Dr.  Fox,  like  most  men  of  distinction,  was  a  self-made 
man.  For  the  want  of  the  necessary  educational  facilities — 
the  scarcity  of  literary  institutions  in  his  native  state,  and  the 
expensiveness  of  the  few  which  did  exist,  together  with  the 
fact  that  an  educated  ministry  was  not  then  as  highly  appre- 
ciated and  as  much  in  demand  in  the  Tennessee  Synod  as  it 
now  is,  and  the  pressing  demand  for  ministers — for  these 
reasons  he  received  but  little  more  than  a  common  English 
education  before  he  entered  the  ministry.  But  still,  al- 
though not  thoroughly  educated,  in  the  common  acceptation 
of  the  term,  his  mental  powers  were  well  developed  and 
disciplined  by  an  extensive  course  of  reading  and  study  in 
the  two  learned  professions  of  his  choice.  By  the  native 
vigor  of  his  intellect,  his  indomitable  energy  and  unwearied 
perseverance,  he  gradually  worked  his  way  up,  till  he  at- 
tained not  only  a  respectable,  but  a  prominent  position  in 
both  of  his  professions.  With  adequate  educational  advan- 
tages in  early  life,  and  devotion  to  only  one  of  his  profes- 
sions, he  might  have  attained  distinction  in  either. 

Dr.  Fox  was  a  man  of  fine  natural  endowments.  Spright- 
liness  and  quickness,  clearness  and  brilliancy  were  his 
mental  characteristics.  His  conceptions  of  the  truth  on  most 
subjects  with  which  he  grappled,  were  quick  and  clear,  and 
generally  correct.  Truths  which  profound  reasoners  of  dif- 
ferent mental  type  reach  by  a  tedious  and  patient  process 
of  reasoning,  he  seemed  to  grasp  almost  intuitively.  He 
was  always  ready  for  almost  any  emergency  that  might  oc- 
cur in  the  line  of  his  calling  ;  and  the  enemy  that  tliought 
to  take  him  by  surprise,  and  thus  confound  and  defeat  him, 
found  to  his  own  sorrow,  that  he  had  mistaken  his  man. 

Dr.  Fox  was  a  strong  man.  His  power  was  acknowledged 


APPENDIX   A.  103 

and  felt  wherever  he  was,  in  the  providence  of  God,  thrown 
and  called  to  act,  not  only  in  his  own,  but  also  in  other 
Synods  and  churches.  He  never  failed  to  command  respect 
and  make  his  mark  where  he  labored.  He  was  a  fluent 
speaker,  a  clear  reasoner  and  a  strong  debater. 

Dr.  Fox  was  a  man  of  principle  and  decision  of  character. 
His  convictions  of  truth  and  its  importance  were  deep  and 
uncompromising.  He  was  unreserved  and  fearless  in  the 
declaration  of  his  principles,  and  manly  in  tlieir  defence. 
His  opposition  to  the  wrong  was  no  less  open  and  manly. 
He  was  always  willing  and  ready  to  avow  and  defend  the 
right,  and  to  disown  and  oppose  the  wrong,  whenever  the 
interests  of  truth  demanded  his  services.  But  still  he  was 
courteous  to  those  with  whom  he  differed ;  and  in  opposing 
the  wrong,  he  was  respectful  to  the  opinions  and  feelings  of 
others  whom  he  believed  to  be  honestly  mistaken  in  their 
views. 

Dr.  Fox  was  a  man  of  rare  social  qualities,  finely  de- 
veloped and  highly  refined.  There  was  in  him  a  personal 
magnetism  that  strongly  attracted  others  to  him,  and  greatly 
endeared  him  to  all  with  whom  he  came  in  social  contact, 
especially  such  as  sympathized  with  him  in  his  views,  feel- 
ings and  purposes  ;  and  at  the  same  time  a  frankness,  that 
inspired  all  with  the  utmost  confidence  in  his  moral  integrity, 
however  greatly  they  might  differ  with  him  in  his  principles 
and  opinions.  His  colloquial  powers  too,  were  of  a  high 
order,  and  lent  a  charm  to  his  conversation.  In  his  social 
intercourse  he  was  familiar,  but  dignified ;  he  was  cheerful, 
but  not  frivolous  ;  he  was  at  times  even  jocular,  but  he 
never  indulged  in  vulgar  jests  or  obscene  anecdotes.  He 
was,  in  a  word,  a  refined  Christian  gentleman  of  a  high  type. 
His  fine  social  qualities,  refined  and  elevated,  restrained  and 
directed  as  they  were  by  divine  grace,  made  him  a  pleasant 


104  APPENDIX    A. 

and  an  interesting  as  well  as  a  safe  companion,  and  guaran- 
teed to  him  a  hearty  welcome  to  all  refined  Christian  homes 
and  circles. 

The  history  of  Dr.  Fox  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  is 
identified  with  the  history  of  the  Tennessee  Synod  for  forty- 
seven  years,  extending  over  a  period  of  nearly  three -fourths 
of  the  entire  history  of  that  body.  He  entered  the  ministry 
in  connection  with  it  at  a  critical  and  eventful  period  in  its 
history,  as  well  as  in  the  history  of  the  entire  Lutheran 
church,  not  only  in  this  country,  but  throughout  her  whole 
extent.  In  the  Lutheran  church  in  the  new  world  at  that 
time  a  spirit  of  indifference,  and  even  open  opposition  to 
divine  truth  as  distinctively  set  forth  in  her  accredited  sym- 
bols, was  extensively  prevalent ;  while  in  the  old  world. 
Rationalism  was  well  nigh  universally  predominant.  It  was 
a  dark  time  in  the  history  of  the  church.  It  tried  men's 
souls.  It  tested  the  sincerity  of  their  professions  and  the 
firmness  of  their  principles.  It  required  deep  and  firm  con- 
victions of  divine  truth  in  its  purity  and  integrity,  as  taught 
in  the  Confessions  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  to  make  one  a 
Lutheran  at  all,  and  moral  courage  in  a  high  degree  to 
make  him  avow  and  dBfend  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  as  was  the  case  in  the  Tennessee  Synod. 
From  its  very  origin  down  to  a  comparatively  recent  period 
in  its  history,  has  this  Synod  bad  determined,  powerful  and 
uncompromising  opposition  from  without ;  and  soon  it  had 
its  troubles,  difficulties  and  conflicts  within.  Under  all  these 
trying  circumstances  Dr.  Fox  proved  himself  fully  equal  to 
the  situation. 

The  history  of  the  Tennessee  Synod  is  properly  divided 
into  three  grand  eras  to  some  extent  overlapping  each 
other.  The  first  extends  from  the  time  of  its  organization,  in 
1820,  embracing  the  antecedent  causes  which  culminated  in 


APPENDIX    A.  105 

this  event,  down  to  1836  ;  the  second  extends  from  1836  to 
the  time  of  the  adoption  of  its  revised  Constitution  ;  and  the 
third  from  this  time  onward  to  a  time  not  yet  determined, 
but  it  is  to  be  hoped  to  the  organic  union  of  the  entire 
Southern  Lutheran  Church  in  one  general  body. 

Dr.  Fox  entered  the  Tennessee  Synod  soon  after  the 
commencement  of  the  second  era,  and  lived  entirely  through 
it.  He  contributed  largely  to  the  history  of  this  period. 
He  was  a  prominent  actor  in  its  doings ;  indeed  but  little  of 
importance  was  done  by  the  Synod  during  this  period,  after 
he  entered  it,  in  which  he  did  not  take  an  active  part.  Soon 
after  the  opening  of  this  era,  a  great  revival  began  in  the 
Tennessee  Synod,  and  during  its  progress  important  changes 
were  made  in  the  polity  of  the  Synod.  Shortly  before  that 
time  the  honored  founder,  leader  and  champion  of  the 
Synod,  and  many  of  his  noble  compeers  had  passed  away. 
The  Church  was  in  a  state  of  transition  from  the  German  to 
the  English  language.  Her  ministers  were  few  and  gener- 
ally illiterate  and  unable  to  preach  acceptably  and  success- 
fully in  the  English  language.  The  prospect  was  gloomy. 
The  people  were  greatly  disheartened.  ^'They  were  as 
sheep  scattered  abroad  without  a  shepherd."  But  soon  a 
brighter  day  dawned  upon  the  Synod.  In  a  short  time, 
quite  a  number  of  young  men  of  good  natural  endowments 
and  respectable  literary  attainments,  most  of  them  fluent 
speakers  in  the  English  language,  entered  the  ministry.  It 
was  the  beginning  of  a  great  revival  in  the  Tennessee 
Synod,  and  of  genuine  Lutheranism  in  this  country,  which 
has  continued  with  but  little  interruption,  or  abatement 
down  to  the  present  time,  and  has  gradually  widened 
until  it  has  embraced  almost  the  entire  Lutheran  Church  in 
this  country. 

The  polity  of  the  Synod  was  found  to  be  no  longer  ade- 
5* 


106  APPENDIX    A. 

quate  to  the  wants,  the  purposes  and  the  demands  of  the 
Church.  It  was  for  this  reason  unsatisfactory  to  many  in- 
telligent and  progressive  men,  both  ministers  and  laymen, 
in  the  Synod.  A  change  of  polity  was  warmly  advocated 
and  demanded  by  some,  and  opposed  with  equal  warmth  by 
others.  Time  will  not  permit  me  to  give  a  history  of  the 
controversy  which  ensued,  nor  does  this  occasion  demand  it. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  was  conducted  in  a  fraternal.  Chris- 
tian spirit ;  that  every  inch  of  the  ground  in  dispute  was  man- 
fully contested,  and  that  it  resulted  in  a  radical  change  in 
the  original  polity  of  the  Synod,  in  which  all  the  members 
of  Synod  now  most  heartily  concur. 

I  have  referred  to  these  facts  mainly  to  say  that  Dr.  Fox 
identified  himself  with  the  party  for  reform,  and  worked 
energetically  and  patiently  for  it,  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  and  most  nobly  did  he  acquit  himself.  As  he  had 
faithfully  and  heroically  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the 
little  Spartan  band  which  so  bravely  guarded  the  Ther- 
mopylae of  Lutheranism  from  all  attacks  from  without,  so 
did  he  cooperate  with  the  friends  of  reform  within.  He 
lived  to  see  the  triumph  in  this  country  of  the  grand  princi- 
ples for  which  his  Synod  had  always  contended,  and  of  the 
almost  complete  overthrow  of  Rationalism  in  the  old  world. 
He  lived  to  see,  too,  some  of  the  happy  results  of  the  change 
in  the  polity  of  his  Synod  in  the  establishment  of  literary 
institutions,  beneficiary  education,  an  educated  ministry  and 
successful  missionary  operations. 

As  a  preacher.  Dr.  Fox  was  not  what  the  world  com- 
monly styles  a  great  preacher.  If  even  his  natural  endow- 
ments, with  proper  culture,  had  fitted  him  for  such  a  dis- 
tinction, and  he  had  aspired  to  it,  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  began  his  ministry  and  prosecuted  it  through  life, 
were,  to  say  the  least,  all  unfavorable  to  this,  if  they  did 


APPENDIX    A.  107 

not  utterly  preclude  its  possibility.  But  he  had  no  such 
aspirations.  His  views  of  the  nature  of  the  ministry — its 
objects,  its  duties  and  its  responsibilities,  were  too  high  and 
correct  for  any  such  selfish  and  sordid  end  as  this.  His  ob- 
ject was  not  self-aggrandizement,  but  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  men.  He  preached  not  himself,  but  Christ  Jesus, 
the  Lord.  In  his  manner  he  was  unostentatious.  He  made 
no  effort  at  display.  In  this  respect  he  was  like  Paul,  the 
great  exemplar  of  all  ministers,  who  says  of  himself:  "And 
I  brethren,  when  I  came  unto  you,  came  not  with  excellency 
of  speech  or  of  wisdom,  declaring  unto  you  the  testimony 
of  God."  "And  my  speech  and  my  preaching  was  not 
with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  demonstration 
of  the  Spirit  and  of  power. 

Dr.  Fox  was  a  fluent,  earnest,  forcible  and  impressive 
speaker.  He  never  failed  to  command  and  rivet  the  atten- 
tion of  his  hearers.  He  was  particularly  apt  and  happy 
in  his  illustrations  and  enforcement  of  religious  truth  by 
comparisons  drawn  from  nature,  science  and  art ;  and  he 
knew  how  to  take  advantage  of  the  common  incidents  of 
every-day  life,  and  remarkable  occurrences  in  the  country 
with  which  his  hearers  were  familiar,  and  in  which  they 
were  interested.  In  these  traits  in  his  official  character, 
together  with  the  plainness  of  his  style,  his  free  use  of 
the  word  of  God  in  his  pulpit  ministrations,  and  his 
unaffected  and  deep  sympathy  with  "  the  common  people," 
lay  the  great  secret  of  his  strength,  his  popularity  and  his 
success  in  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

In  the  matter  of  his  preaching,  Dr.  Fox  was  strictly 
orthodox,  eminently  evangelical,  and  distinctively  Lutheran. 
He  fully  endorsed  and  preached  all  the  great  cardinal  doc- 
trines of  the  Christian  system  as  held  by  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church.     He  knew  no  salvation  out  of  Christ.     He  "  deter- 


108  APPENDIX   A. 

mined  to  know  nothing"  in  his  preaching  "but  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified."  He  not  only  cordially  embraced  the  dis- 
tinctive doctrines  of  the  Lutheran  church,  as  set  forth  in  her 
accredited  symbols,  but  he  boldly  proclaimed  and  manfully 
defended  them  at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions,  when  in  his 
judgment  the  interests  of  truth  demanded  it.  He  was  as 
true  to  the  Confessional  standards  of  the  church  as  the 
needle  is  to  the  poles.  He  was  this  because  he  believed 
that  our  distinctive  doctrines,  as  well  as  all  other  truth  re- 
vealed in  God's  word,  are  important,  not  only  to  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  grand  system  of  revealed  truth,  but  also  to 
the  full  attainment  of  the  highest  happiness  of  which  the 
human  soul  is  capable.  Like  Paul,  he  "  kept  the  faith  "  in 
its  entireness ;  like  him,  he  "  declared  the  whole  counsel  of 
God;"  and,  in  obedience  to  the  Apostolic  injunction,  he 
"  contended  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints." 

The  regular  pastoral  work  of  Dr.  Fox  was  divided  be- 
tween Tennessee,  Alabama  and  North  Carolina.  Besides 
this  he  did  much  occasional  preaching  in  these  and  other 
places.  North  Carolina,  however,  was  the  principal  field 
of  his  labors.  It  was  here  he  longest  held  regular  pastoral 
charge,  achieved  his  greatest  success  and  won  his  highest 
honors.  He  labored  in  the  ministry  about  forty-seven  years, 
and  did  a  great  amount  of  work  in  this  calling,  besides  an 
extensive  practice  as  a  physician  during  much  of  that  time. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  activity,  indomitable  energy  and  un- 
tiring perseverance,  as  well  as  of  great  zeal  in  the  Master's 
work.  His  activity  never  ceased,  his  energies  never 
flagged,  and  his  zeal  never  abated,  but  all  rather  increased 
as  the  infirmities  of  declining  years  pressed  heavily  upon 
him.  He  had  well  nigh  filled  the  measure  of  man's  "  three 
score  years  and  ten,"  and  when  he  fell,  he  fell  at  the  post 


APPENDIX    A.  109 

of  duty,  with  the  gosper  armor  on.  He  had  just  returned 
to  his  home  from  Tennessee,  where  he  had  been  assisting 
his  son,  but  recently  ordained  to  the  ministry,  in  a  series  of 
sacramental  meetings,  in  which  he  is  said,  by  those  who 
heard  him,  to  have  preached  with  even  greater  power  and 
deeper  pathos  than  he  had  done  in  his  palmiest  days. 

Dr.  Fox  was  eminently  successful  in  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry. The  work  of  the  Lord  greatly  prospered  in  his 
hands.  God  set  to  his  labors  the  seal  of  His  approval.  He 
organized  many  new  churches,  revived  old  ones,  and  added 
hundreds  to  the  Church  of  "such  as  shall  be  saved,"  and 
form  stars  in  his  crown  of  rejoicing  when  the  Master  shall 
come  to  "make  up  His  jewels."  He  was  also  instrumental 
in  bringing  into  the  ministry  and  training  for  the  work  sev- 
eral young  men  Avho  have  made  their  mark  in  the  world. 
Amongst  these  I  may  mention  particularly  the  lamented 
Prof.  Smyer,  who  was  cut  down  in  the  dawning  of  a  bril- 
liant and  useful  career;  Revs.  J.  K.  Hancher,  D.  E.  Fox, 
A.  L.  Grouse,  and  his  own  two  sons.  Rev.  Prof.  L.  A.  Fox, 
D.  D.,  and  Rev.  J.  B.  Fox,  of  whom,  as  still  living,  I  for- 
bear to  say  more' than  that  they  are  all  respectable  and  effi- 
cient laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  The  extent  of 
his  influence  for  good  will  never  be  fully  known  until  it 
shall  be  seen  in  the  light  of  the  world  to  come.  The  man 
of  God  strikes  a  chord  whose  vibrations,  it  may  be,  shall 
never  die  away. 

I  might  pursue  this  line  of  thought  to  a  much  greater 
length,  but  I  must  desist.  With  a  few  words  in  regard  to 
the  social  and  religious  character  of  our  lamented  brother, 
I  shall  have  done. 

In  all  the  domestic  and  social  relations  of  life — as  a  son 
and  brother,  as  a  husband  and  father,  as  a  neighbor  and 
friend,  he  was  a  model  man.     In  all  these  relations  he  had 


110  APPENDIX    A. 

but  few  equals,  and  still  fewer  superiors.  His  moral  char- 
acter was  above  reproach.  So  far  as  I  know,  not  a  solitary 
stain  ever  rested  upon  it.  Not  even  a  suspicion  was  ever 
breathed  against  it.  He  came  up  fully  to  the  Apostolic 
requisition  in  the  moral  character  of  a  bishop.  He  was 
"blameless,"  and  had  "a  good  report  of  them  that  are 
without."  He  "fought  a  good  fight"  against  the  three 
great  enemies  of  the  Christian — the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil.  But  he  was  more  than  simply  strictly  moral. 
He  was  a  devout  Christian.  He  had  experienced  in  his  own 
heart  the  transforming,  the  renewing  and  sanctifying  influ- 
ences of  the  Holy  Spirit.     He  "walked  with  God." 

His  end  was  such  as  his  life  authorized  us  to  expect.  It 
was  tranquil,  triumphant,  happy.  He  met  death  without  a 
doubt  as  to  the  realities  of  the  spirit  world,  or  a  fear  as  to 
his  acceptance  with  God,  and  in  the  hope  of  a  glorious  and 
blissful  immortality.  As  he  stood  on  the  verge  of  the 
eternal  world,  he  could,  calmly  and  complacently  reviewing 
his  past  life,  say  ;  "  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have 
finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith ;"  and  looking  into 
the  future,  he  could  with  rapture  exclaim ;  "  Henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  unto  me  in  that  day." 

"Servant  of  God,  well  done  ! 
Rest  from  thy  loved  employ  : 
The  battle  fought,  the  victory  won, 
Enter  thy  Master's  joy. 

"The  voice  at  midnight  came  : 
He  started  up  to  hear  : 
A  mortal  arrow  pierced  his  frame  : 
He  fell  but  felt  no  fear. 

"At  midnight  came  the  cry, 

"  To  meet  thy  God  prepare  !" 
He  woke  and  caught  his  Captain's  eye  ; 
Then  strong  in  faith  and  prayer, 


APPENDIX    A.  Ill 

"His  spirit  with  a  bound  1 

Left  its  encumbring  clay  :  I 

His  tent  at  sunrise  on  the  ground  j 

A  darkened  ruin  lay.  | 

j 
"The  pains  of  death  are  past ; 

Labor  and  sorrow  cease  ; 
And  life's  long  warfare  closed  at  last,  j 

His  soul  is  found  in  peace.  i 

"Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done  !  | 

Praise  be  thy  new  employ  ; 
And  while  eternal  ages  run, 
Rest  in  thy  Saviour's  joy." 


APPENDIX  B. 


A  SERMON, 

Preached  hy  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Fox^  on  the  6th  day  of  No- 
vember, 1858,  before  the  Missionary  Conference  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennessee  Synod. 

Published  by  request  of  the  Conference.  [From  The 
Lutheran  Standard  Jan.  7th  and  21st,  1859.] 

Text  :  '*  And  he  said  unto  them,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."     Mark  xvi.  15. 

ny /TY  Christian  Friends  and  Fellow  Laborers  in 
J3lL  rp2g  Vineyard  of  our  Lord  :  According  to  pre- 
vious appointment  we  are  now  assembled  on  this  inter- 
esting occasion,  with  a  view  to  place  upon  a  permanent 
basis  the  Missionary  Conference  commenced  by  us  last 
May.  I  am  fully  aware  that  there  are  amongst  the 
brethren  several  apparently  conflicting  views  concerning 
this  most  important  enterprise.  Yet  I  trust  and  pray  Al- 
mighty God  that  by  a  mutual  interchange  of  ideas,  we  may 
all  ultimately  be  made  to  see  eye  to  eye.  Let  us  cherish 
feelings  of  Christian  forbearance  prompted  by  the  true 
spirit  of  philanthropy,  and  that  truly  fraternal  affection 
which  should  so  fully  characterize  the  members  of  any 
ecclesiastical  body.  Let  us  lay  aside  all  stickling  for  favor- 
ite measures  and  unite  upon  some  plan  that  promises,  to 
some  extent  at  least,  to  accomplish  the  great  end  we  con- 
template, which  I  am  fully  persuaded  invites  the  sympathies 
of   every  member  of  the   widely  extended  family  of  our 

(112) 


APPENDIX   B.  113 

common  Lord  and  Master.  Such  plan,  it  is  true,  may  at 
first  be  very  imperfect.  But  let  us,  nevertheless,  make  the 
beginning ;  and  as  our  acquaintance  with  this  great  cause 
increases,  and  the  necessities  of  this  heaven-honored  enter- 
prise may  demand,  Ave  can  make  the  necessary  improve- 
ments. If  we  adopt  these  sentiments  and  feelings  and 
earnestly  put  our  hands  to  the  work,  I  am  confident  from 
what  I  see  in  my  present  official  charge,  that  in  a  few 
short  years  much,  very  much,  will  have  been  done  to  ac- 
complish that  great  end  of  the  Christian  ministry,  the  wider 
dissemination  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Holy  Redeemer ; — that 
end  for  which  especially  every  Lutheran  should  so  ear- 
nestly and  devoutly  pray,  the  extension  of  Lutheran  terri- 
tory and  the  supply  of  our  scattered  brethren  in  the  faith 
with  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  the  administration  of 
the  Sacraments  by  ministers  of  their  own  Church,  and  thus 
save  them  and  their  children  from  the  painful  necessity  of 
either  entirely  neglecting  their  Christian  duties  or  associa- 
ting themselves  with  sects  whose  doctrines  they  cannot  consci- 
entiously believe  or  fully  subscribe  to.  To  eff'ect  something 
in  this  direction  and*  how  to  accomplish  it,  has  long  been 
the  study  of  our  most  energetic  and  enterprising  ministers 
and  laymen.  And  I  am  truly  happy  to  say  that  from  the 
earliest  history  of  our  Synod  our  ministers  have  in  a  cer- 
tain way,  exerted  themselves,  as  far  as  possible,  to  supply 
our  destitute  people.  Many  of  them  have  made  much  sacri- 
fice of  time  and  money  and  neglected  their  own  parishion- 
ers to  meet  the  many  pressing  calls  from  abroad.  But 
from,  as  we  think,  the  mistaken,  yet  well  meant  fears  of  the 
framers  of  our  Synod  and  our  Synodical  policy,  we  have 
been  and  still  are  so  much  environed  by  our  organic  law  as 
a  Synod  and  the  prejudices  of  the  people,  that  as  yet  no  sys 
tematic  efforts  have  been  made  to  do  anything  in  the  great 


114  APPENDIX    B. 

work  of  missions.  In  this  we  are  entirely  behind  our  breth- 
ren of  sister  denominations,  and  stand  singular  among  the 
thirty-five  Lutheran  Synods  in  these  United  States.  That 
the  time  has  come  fpr  us  to  wake  up  in  regard  to  this  matter  I 
feel  confident  must  be  apparent  to  every  one  of  the  brethren 
present,  yea,  of  our  entire  Synod,  to  relieve  ourselves  from 
these  embarrassments  and  to  enable  us  more  fully  to  dis- 
charge our  duty  as  ministers  and  a  branch  of  the  great  Lu- 
theran family.  The  incipient  steps  were  taken  last  spring, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  plan  into  successful 
operation  as  has  been  stated,  we  are  now  assembled.  And 
that  its  claims  may  be  more  fully  understood  and  appreciated, 
your  humble  servant  was  appointed  to  preach  a  sermon  on  the 
occasion,  and  now  appears  before  you  for  that  purpose.  I 
am  free  to  say  that  I  could  wish  that  this  duty  had  been 
assigned  to  some  brother  more  fully  competent  to  the  task. 
Nevertheless,  I  will,  by  the  help  of  God,  try  to  do  this  im- 
portant subject  as  much  justice  as  my  feeble  abilities  and 
the  nature  of  the  circumstances  will  permit.  And  as  the 
pioneer  preacher  of  missionary  sermons  in  the  Tennessee 
Synod,  I  choose  the  acknowledged  basis  of  all  missionary 
enterprises  as  the  foundation  for  my  present  discourse,  viz: 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature." 

Such  are  the  words  of  the  adorable  Son  of  God  uttered 
when  upon  the  point  of  taking  his  final  visible  leave  of  his 
eleven  devoted  followers,  whom  he  had  selected  mainly  from 
the  lower  walks  of  society,  and  who  had  accompanied  him  in 
his  travels  over  the  sunny  land  of  Palestine,  and  had  heard  all 
his  masterly  discourses,  witnessed  the  performance  of  his 
many  miracles,  and,  but  a  few  weeks  previous,  had  seen 
him  betrayed  by  one  of  the  original  twelve  into  the  hands 
of  his  mortal  enemies,  at  whose  instance  he  had  been  sen- 


APPENDIX    B.  115 

tenced  to  the  dreadful  death  of  the  cross,  and  upon  Calvary 
had  been  subjected  to  that  most  painful  and  disgraceful  of 
all  deaths.  But,  in  spite  of  all  the  powers  of  darkness  and 
all  his  earthly  enemies,  he,  forty  days  previous  to  uttering 
the  most  solemn  injunction,  had  arisen  triumphantly  from 
the  dead.  Having  repeatedly  appeared  unto  them  and 
made  full  demonstration  of  his  identity,  having  fully  fin- 
ished the  great  work  assigned  him  by  his  Father,  he  now 
presents  his  Apostles  with  the  credentials  he  before  had 
promised  them,  in  the  language  of  our  text,  which  must 
have  been  words  of  the  most  thrilling  importance  to  them, 
as  their  Master  was  now  to  leave  them,  and  commit  into 
their  hands  and  the  hands  of  their  successors  the  comple- 
tion of  the  great  work  he  had  commenced  upon  earth,  in 
which  he  had  been  constantly  engaged  for  three  years,  viz : 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  evangelize  the  world. 

When  Christ  opened  his  mission,  he  informed  the  Jews 
"that  the  scriptures  enjoining  it  upon  him  to  preach  the 
Gospel  was  then  fulfilled  in  their  ears."  See  Luke  iv.  18. 
And  again  he  said,  "  Repent  and  believe  the  Gospel."  Mark 
i.  15.  And  now  in  these  words :  "  Go  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature;"  and  St.  Matthew  adds,  for  their  en- 
couragement, "  And  lo !  I  am  with  you  alway,  unto  the 
end  of  the  world."  The  Apostles  must  have  felt  that  this 
commission  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  them  as  well  as 
the  whole  human  family.  But  the  memory  of  the  manner  in 
which  their  Master  had  so  lately  been  treated,  and  the  stern 
opposition  that  his  doctrines  had  met,  nothwithstanding  his 
display  of  Omnipotence  and  the  invincible  skill  he  mani- 
fested so  as  to  compel  the  wisest  and  shrewdest  to  acknowl- 
edge that  "  God  must  be  with  him,"  and  his  enemies  to 
exclaim,  "  Never  man  spake  as  this  man ;"  and  their  own 
personal  knowledge  of  their  almost  total  lack  of  literary  at- 


IIG  APPENDIX    13. 

tainments,  added  to  their  very  limited  knowledge  of  things 
in  general,  consequent  upon  their  former  very  humble  state, 
must  have  filled  them  with  fearful  apprehensions  as  to  their 
capability  to  succeed  in  this  all-important  work.  As  men 
they  must  have  felt  themselves  unequal  to  the  task ;  but 
such  are  the  wonderful  ways  of  God,  that  "  He  chooses  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty,"  1  Cor. 
i.  27.  St.  Paul  says,  "We  have  this  treasure  in  earthen 
vessels,  that  the  excellency  of  the  power  may  be  of  God  and 
not  of  us."  2  Cor.  iv.  7.  Christian  ministers  are  embas- 
sadors for  Christ."  2  Cor.  v.  20.  And  we  remark  here 
that  God  designs  to  efiect  the  conversion  of  the  world 
through  the  church  ;  for  our  Saviour's  command  is,  "  Go  ye 
into  all  nations,  and  make  disciples  of  them."  See  Matth. 
xxviii.  19.  As  this  is  unquestionably  the  duty  of  the  whole 
church  as  a  body  and  not  the  ministry  only,  or  some  cer- 
tain divisions  of  the  church,  we  maintain  that  knowing  as  we 
do,  that  we  arc  part  and  parcel  of  the  great  Christian  family, 
and  believing  as  we  most  confidently  do,  that  the  doctrines 
of  our  church  are  most  compatible  with  the  word  of  God,  and 
as  such  are  most  purely  evangelical,  it  is  our  bounden  duty 
to  do  all  we  can  for  their  extensive  dissemination ;  and  I 
firmly  believe  that  this  can  only  be  properly  done  by  engag- 
ing in  suitable  missionary  enterprises.  That  this  is  so  is 
evident  from  the  positive  injunction  contained  in  our  text, 
and  that  it  was  always  so  understood  we  now  propose  to 
show  upon  the  following  grounds — 

1st.  Our  Saviour  himself  was  a  missionary. 

I  am  truly  sorry  to  say  that  the  term  missionary,  as  it 
relates  to  our  enterprises,  with  many  seems  to  be  either  a 
new  word  or  intimately  associated  with  some  species  of  fanat- 
icism. To  such  it  will  no  doubt  seem,  when  I  assert  that 
Christ  was  a  missionary,  that  I  attribute  an  oflficial  character 


APPENDIX   B.  117 

to  him  that  by  no  means  belongs  to  him.  But  when  we 
remember  that  the  word  missionary  itself  signifies,  "  One 
sent  to  propagate  religion,"  and  at  the  same  time  remember 
that  St.  Paul  says,  "In  the  fullness  of  the  time  God  sent 
forth  his  Son,"  Gal.  iv.  4,  we  cannot  fail  to  be  convinced 
that  1  am  correct.  This  sentiment  is  more  fully  supported 
by  John  the  Baptist,  when  he  declares  "he  whom  God  hath 
sent,  speaketh  the  words  oi  God."  See  John  iii.  34.  And 
our  Lord  himself  avers  "  God  sent  forth  his  Son  into  the 
world,  not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through 
him  might  be  saved."  See  John  iii.  17.  Again  Isaiah, 
speaking  of  man's  redemption  by  Christ,  says  in  his  61  ch. 
1  v.,  "He  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor; 
he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  proclaim 
liberty  to  the  captives."  In  view  of  all  these  things,  the 
conclusion  forces  itself  upon  us  that  Christ  was  to  all  intents 
a  Missionary,  officially  appointed  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
those  who  neither  had  the  means  for  procuring  it  nor  a  de- 
sire for  its  benefits.  He  was,  therefore,  emphatically  more 
completely  a  missionary  than  any  we  now  propose  to  em- 
ploy ;  for  we  only  propose  to  send  missionaries  to  those  who 
desire  the  Gospel ;  besides,  he  made  much  greater  personal 
sacrifices  to  accomplish  this  great  end  than  any  human  being 
can  now  make ;  and  did  all  this  that  he  might  save  the  souls  of 
men.  Ought  not  we,  then,  who  are  included  in  his  blessings, 
amongst  his  redeemed  and  highly  favored,  to  follow  his 
example,  and  make  some  small  sacrifices  of  time  and  earthly 
honors  and  comforts,  as  well  as  contribute  a  small  portion  of 
our  earthly  goods  to  efiect  the  salvation  of  our  fellow  men, 
and  especially  our  brethren  in  the  faith  with  their  families  ? 
2d,  Christ  himself  was  not  only  a  Missionary,  but  he  ap- 
pointed others  to  succeed  him.  Previous  to  his  crucifixion, 
he  sent  first  his  twelve  Apostles,  and  afterwards  seventy 


118  APPENDIX    B. 

others,  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  but  he  restricted  them  to  the 
land  of  Judea.  He  afterwards  told  them,  that  as  he  had 
been  sent  by  His  Father,  so  he  would  send  them ;  and  this 
he  did,  when  he  gave  them  their  final  commission,  as  in  our 
text :  "  Go  ye  therefore,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature."  And  only  ten  days  after,  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, after  having  received  the  promised  authority  from  on 
high,  they  boldly  commenced  the  work  to  which  they  were 
appointed,  which  received  the  impressive  seal  of  the  Al- 
mighty, for  there  were  more  than  three  thousand  con- 
verted and  added  to  the  church  in  one  day  under  the  in- 
fluence of  their  preaching — an  incontrovertible  evidence  of 
the  power  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  when  preached  to  a  sin- 
ful world,  and  a  demonstration  of  the  fact  asserted  by  the 
Apostle  Paul,  "The  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion to  every  one  that  believeth."  Rom.  i.  16.  If  we  can 
do  anything,  then,  to  spread  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  which  is 
the  only  power  that  God  now  employs  to  eifect  the  salvation 
of  our  race,  should  we  not  most  willingly  do  it?  Yea,  may 
we  not  ask  with  the  Apostle  Paul  to  the  Hebrews,  "How 
shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation?"  How 
shall  we  escape  ?  we  repeat,  if  we  enjoy  its  incalculable 
blessings  ourselves,  and  have  the  means  and  ability  to  aiford 
it  to  others  and  do  not  do  it.  Our  responsibilities  are 
increased  if  this  is  made  our  duty  as  a  church,  and  there  is 
no  truth  more  clearly  set  forth  in  the  Word  of  God  than 
this:  "When  I  say  to  the  wicked,  thou  shalt  surely  die; 
and  thou  give  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  to  warn  the 
wicked  from  his  wicked  way,  to  save  his  life,  the  same 
wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  wdl  I 
require  at  thy  hand.  Yet  if  thou  warn  the  wicked,  and  he 
turn  not  from  his  wickedness,  he  shall  die  in  his  ini(|uity, 
but  thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul."  See  Ezekiel  3d  ch. 
18th  V. 


APPENDIX    B.  119 

The  duty  to  warn  the  wicked  at  the  instance  of  the  Al- 
mighty falls  alike  on  the  ministers  and  the  whole  Church. 
That  this  is  so  is  evident  from  the  words  of  St.  Paul  in  his 
second  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  "  God  hath  given  unto  us 
the  ministry  of  reconciliation,"  5th  ch.  18th  v.  This  minis- 
try is  committed  unto  the  whole  Church ;  but  it  is  not  con- 
venient for  every  individual  member  to  preach  in  person. 
Nay,  this  would  be  an  impossibility,  for  all  men  have  not 
the  time  nor  talents  to  do' this.  Therefore  God  has  author- 
ized the  Church  to  select  suitable  persons  from  her  own 
ranks  and  invest  them  with  authority,  and  send  them  forth 
to  preach  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  Hence  we 
take  the  ground  in  the 

3d  place,  that  Christ  requires  every  minister  to  be  a  mis- 
sionary. This  he  does  by  his  own  example.  He  was  a 
missionary  himself  during  a  most  perilous,  self-sacrificing, 
and  arduous  term  of  three  years,  which  for  the  time  de- 
prived him  of  his  native  glory  and  honor,  his  happiness  and 
comfort,  and  at  last  cost  him  even  his  own  heart's  blood. 

By  sending  them  he  made  his  Apostles  missionaries,  who 
during  their  missionary  tour  were  sharers  with  their  Diviyie 
Master  in  personal  sacrifices,  in  wants  and  sufferings. 
Most  of  them,  too,  came  to  a  violent  death  at  a  premature 
age. 

All  the  ministers  of  Christ  must  now  be  sent  and,  there- 
fore, are  missionaries ;  for  St.  Paul  inquires,  "How  shall 
they  preach  except  they  be  sent?"  Rom.  x.  15.  Besides 
the  Saviour  exhorts  us  "  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to 
send  more  laborers  into  the  harvest,  for  the  harvest  is  great 
and  the  laborers  are  few."     Matt.  ix.  37,  38. 

The  silly  dreams  of  such  as  suppose  that  ministers  are 
now  sent  or  called  directly  from  heaven  are  altogether  un- 
founded, for  the  Church,  as  before  shown,  is  the  only  agency 


120  APPENDIX    B. 

that  God  now  employs  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 
He  now  calls  liis  ministers  by  the  Gospel,  and  sends  them 
by  the  Church.  This  the  Church  does  when  she  calls  all 
to  repentance  by  her  ministers;  and  when  she  finds 
amongst  her  members  a  man  of  suitable  talents,  becoming 
morals,  undoubted  piety,  and  zeal  in  the  cause  of  truth ^ 
she  respectfully  solicits  him  to  abandon  the  idea  of  pursuits 
less  self  sacrificing  and  that  promises  more  honor,  as  the 
world  calls  it,  and  vastly  more  of  earthly  treasures,  and  de- 
vote his  time,  energies  and  talents  for  the  promotion  of  her 
good  and  the  general  good  of  blood-bought  souls — to  wield 
the  broad-sword  of  the  Spirit.  In  return,  she  promises 
virtually  to  encourage  and,  as  far  as  possible,  aid  him  in 
his  arduous  duties  as  well  as  afford  him  the  necessary 
means  of  bodilv  subsistence.  This  last  is  indeed  nothing 
more  than  her  duty,  as  well  as  the  others,  lor  St.  Paul  says, 
"  Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained,  that  they  which  preach 
the  Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel,"  1  Cor.  ix.  14.  In 
view  of  all  these  things,  it  is  quite  an  easy  matter  to  know 
what  the  duty  of  the  Church  is.  Her  business  is,  in  the 
general  acceptation  of  the  term,  to  procure  and  fit  out  as 
many  missionaries  of  the  proper  stamp  as  she  can  possibly 
get  into  the  field  ;  and  I  am  quite  sure  she  can  sustain  them, 
if  she  is  but  willing. 

Oh !  that  she  could  but  view  these  things  in  their  true 
colors.  It  would  most  certainly  require  but  a  few  short 
years  for  her  to  shine  as  bright  as  the  sun,  fair  as  the 
moon,  and  be  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners.  And,  hav- 
ing lengthened  her  cords  and  strengthened  her  stakes,  she 
would  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  do  the  bosom  of  the 
great  deep.  Christian  brethren,  let  us  arouse  from  our 
lethargy  at  once,  and  commence  this  work  wliich  has 
hitherto  been  performed  among  us   under  so  many  disad- 


APPENDIX   B.  121 

vantages,  and  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  will  most  assuredly 
crown  our  efforts,  however  feeble,  with  success. 

'  Having  established  the  fact  that  every  effort  made  to 
spread  the  everlasting  Gospel  either  by  the  ministry  or  by 
the  Church  as  a  body  or  in  any  of  her  divisions,  is,  and 
ever  must  be,  decidedly  missionary  in  its  character,  we 
are  naturally  led  to  inquire,  Have  we  any  incentives  to 
action  beyond  the  bare  command  of  our  text?  Is  there 
anything  in  the  past  history  of  the  missionary  enterprise, 
or  is  there  any  divine  promise  of  success  which  should  stim- 
ulate its  friends  to  action  ? 

1.  In  answer  to  the  inquiry,  Have  we  any  incentives  to 
action  beyond  the  bare  command  ?  I  remark  that  the  de- 
plorable state  of  ignorance  and  wickedness  existing  in  those 
countries  and  amongst  those  people  who  are  without  the 
Gospel — to  say  nothing  of  their  everlasting  salvation — is 
certainly  a  very  considerable  inducement  to  all  genuine 
Christians  to  exert  themselves  to  spread  the  Word  of  Divine 
Truth.  Especially  is  this  the  case  when  we  take  into  con- 
sideration that  those  people  who  are  under  the  influence  of 
the  Gospel  to  even  a  limited  extent,  are  vastly  more  happy 
in  every  sense,  than  the  citizens  of  the  most  enlightened  and 
civilized  country  in  the  world  where  Paganism  prevails. 
Compare  any  portion  of  Christendom — even  those  coun- 
tries where  the  Gospel  is  preached  in  its  most  adulter- 
ated and  corrupted  form,  as  in  Roman  Catholic  countries — 
with  even  the  most  enlightened  Pagan  lands,  and  the  su- 
perior advantages  of  a  preached  Gospel  cannot  fail  to 
appear  even  to  the  most  superficial  and  careless  ob- 
server. Where  are  human  sacrifices  offered?  Where  are 
widows  either  consumed  upon  the  funeral  pile,  or  buried 
alive  with  their  deceased  husbands?  Where  are  tender 
females,  as  early  as  their  eighth  or  tenth  year,  compelled, 
6 


122  APPENDIX    B. 

contrary  to  their  feelings  and  affections,  to  marry  men  who 
are  not  unfrequently  thirty  or  forty  years  old  ?  Where  is 
the  sin  of  polygamy  tolerated  by  civil  authority  ?  Where 
is  revenge  for  injury  received  by  any  of  a  given  tribe  or 
nation  authorized  to  be  practiced  upon  the  person  of  any 
one,  even  a  tender  and  wholly  inoffensive  infant,  of  an  op- 
posite party  ?  Where  is  the  largest  amount  of  tyranny  ex- 
ercised by  princes  over  their  subjects  ?  And  where  are  a 
thousand  other  atrocities  practiced  that  time  will  not  allow 
us  to  mention  ?  And  even  had  we  time,  common  decency 
would  forbid  us  to  mention  them.  The  answer  must  be — 
In  those  countries  and  amongst  those  people  where  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Gospel  is  unknown. 

On  the  contrary,  where  is  civilization  cultivated  most? 
Where  is  the  largest  amount  of  humanity  exercised  ?  Where 
are  laws  and  other  civil  institutions  the  most  liberal  and 
wholesome  ?  Where  do  the  people  enjoy  the  greatest 
amount  of  civil  and  religious  liberty?  And  besides  all, 
where  do  men  pay  most  attention  to  both  mental  and  moral 
culture  ?  The  truth  of  the  matter  forces  the  answer  upon 
us.  It  is,  then,  where  the  Gospel  is  preached  in  its  greatest 
purity.  These  considerations  alongside  the  great  truth  that 
our  salvation  and  the  salvation  of  the  human  family  is  due 
to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  are  powerful,  very  powerful 
incentives  to  action  in  this  direction.  Besides,  w^hen  we 
consider  that  no  one  can  have  a  reasonable  ground  to  hope 
for  salvation  without  hearing  the  Gospel ;  and  this  is  so,  for 
St.  Paul  says — Ileb.  li.  6 — "Without  faith  it  is  impossible 
to  please  God;"  and  Rom.  x.  17 — "Faith  cometh  by 
hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  AVord  of  God ;" — ought  not 
every  feeling  of  Christian  philanthropy  to  prompt  us  not 
only  to  exert  ourselves  as  much  as  is  convenient,  but  to  the 
utmost  of  our  ability,  both  by  our  prayers  and  pecuniary 


APPENDIX   B.  123 

aid,  to  furnish  every  one  of  our  fellow  beings  with  means  to 
alleviate  their  unhappy  condition  in  this  lower  world  ;  and, 
what  is  much  more,  afford  to  them  the  means  to  make  them 
everlastingly  happy  in  the  world  to  come.  Is  there  any  one 
who  now  hears  me,  who  can  be  so  selfish  and  so  narrow- 
minded  as  to  feel  careless  upon  this  all-important  subject  ? 
Nay,  I  trust  not.  Methinks  I  see  depicted  on  every  intelli- 
gent countenance  an  anxiety,  yea,  deep  anxiety,  to  dc  some- 
thing for  the  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace. 

2.  The  success  of  the  Apostles  may  be  considered  a 
powerful  incentive  to  action  on  our  part. 

To  twelve  weak  and  illiterate  men  was  given  the  all- 
important  command  to  convert  a  sinful  and  opposing  world. 
They  possessed  no  natural  or  physical  abilities  to  command 
the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  intelligent  and  influential 
of  mankind.  Nor  was  the  burthen  of  their  mission — the 
simple  story  of  the  Cross — of  such  a  character  as  forcibly 
to  affect  the  senses  of  faithless  men  and  women ;  for  who 
does  not  know  that  after  all  that  they  could  say  of  the 
boasted  power  and  wisdom  of  their  Redeemer,  they  were 
compelled  to  own  that  He  was  condemned  to  a  male- 
factor's death,  and  actually  died  the  most  disgraceful  of  all 
deaths,  the  death  of  crucifixion.  They  must  preach  Him 
who  "  to  the  Jews  was  stumbling  stone,  and  to  the  Greeks 
the  utmost  folly  ;"  yet,  braced  by  the  authority  they  had 
received,  and  encouraged  by  the  promise  of  Divine  assis- 
tance, they  soon  fearlessly  commenced  the  mighty  work 
assigned  them.  And  after  meeting  with  unparalleled  suc- 
cess in  their  first  effort,  by  a  single  discourse  upon  a  sinc^le 
day  converting  three  thousand  souls  to  the  truth,  changing 
them  from  violent  opposition  to  the  warmest  friends  and 
brethren  in  the  same  faith,  they  traveled  in  every  direction 
and  in  the  face  of  the  most  terrible  opposition  at  home  and 


1^4  APPENDIX    B. 

abroad.  They  were  frowned  upon  by  the  princes  and 
emperors  of  nations ;  they,  nevertheless,  went  on  and 
preached  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  towards  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  traveled  through  Asia  Minor, 
crossed  over  into  Greece,  and  penetrated  as  far  as  Italy, 
preaching  everywhere  a  crucified  Saviour  as  the  only  hope 
of  the  world.  Nor  did  they  promulgate  the  unpopular 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel  merely  among  the  lower  orders  of 
the  people.  They  taught  openly  in  the  synagogues;  they 
went  to  the  most  populous  cities,  the  centres  of  learning  and 
idolatry ;  they  assailed  wickedness  in  high  places,  and 
denounced  superstition  in  its  strongest  holds.  The  very 
points  where  Pagan  idolatry  could  rally  its  strongest  forces 
and  oppose  Christianity  to  the  best  advantage,  were  chosen 
by  the  Apostles  as  their  most  favorite  fields  of  labor. 
"  There,  while  philosophers  sat  around  them  and  caviled, 
and  mobs  gathered  to  do  them  violence,  and  craftsmen,  self- 
interested,  sung  the  praises  of  Diana," — they  spake  of 
Jesus — they  preached  the  Gospel — told  the  simple  story  of 
the  Cross  ;  and  what  was  their  success  ?  Brethren,  have  you 
not  read  the  record  ?  Do  you  not  know  the  answer  ? 
Wherever  they  went,  was  not  the  God  of  missions  with 
them  ?  Wherever  they  preached,  did  not  the  Word  take 
efiect?  Yea,  "amid  the  profligacy  of  Corinth,  a  flourish- 
ing church  was  established.  Rome,  too, — the  Queen  City 
of  the  world — saw  the  Gospel  triumph  within  her  walls, 
and  rear  its  standard  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  Im- 
perial palace,  and  cull  trophies  from  the  very  household 
of  the  Caesars." 

But  time  will  not  permit  us  to  enumerate  particular  vic- 
tories. Suffice  it  to  say,  that  in  less  than  a  century  from 
the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  Ilis  religion  had  spread  itself  over 
the  greatest  part  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  gained  such  an 


APPENDIX   B.  125 

ascendancy  over  idolatry,  that  Pliny  the  younger,  in  writing 
to  Trajan,  speaks  of  the  heathen  temples  as  having  become 
almost  desolate,  their  sacred  solemnities  intermitting,  and 
their  sacrificial  victims  finding  only  here  and  there  a  pur- 
chaser. And  for  more  than  two  centuries  from  this  time 
Christianity  continued  to  spread  its  light  and  victories,  until, 
in  the  language  of  the  two  fathers,  Origen  and  TertuUian, 
"It  filled  the  cities,  islands,  towns,  boroughs,  the  camp, 
the  Senate,  and  the  forum;"  and,  ii)  the  stronger  language 
of  Jerome,  "  The  passion  and  resurrection  of  Christ 
were  celebrated  in  the  discourses  of  all  nations."  The 
natural  fierceness  and  bloodthirstiness  of  savage  nations, 
were  supplanted  by  the  purer  principles  of  philanthropy 
and  Christian  afi'ection,  and  everywhere  Christ  was  all  in  all. 
Surely  this  unbounded  success  was  the  work  of  God.  His 
servants  planted  and  watered,  but  He  gave  the  increase. 
Surely,  such  success,  in  the  hands  of  such  feeble  instruments, 
should  encourage  us  to  put  our  hands  to  the  work  in  earnest. 
We  cannot  meet  with  more  numerous  and  powerful  enemies 
than  they  did.  Surely,  as  men,  we  are  not  more  feeble  than 
they  were.  God  helped  them  as  He  had  promised;  He  has 
promised  us  the  very  same  aid,  and  dare  we  distrust  His 
words  ?  Nay,  let  us  go  to  the  work  in  good  earnest,  and 
we  will,  we  must  succeed  ! 

3.  I  remark,  that  the  success  of  modern  missionary  ef- 
forts affords  us  an  incentive  to  action. 

Nearly  all  the  various  demominations  of  Christians  have 
been,  and  still  are,  engaged  in  the  work  of  missions  upon 
one  or  other  of  the  various  modern  plans.  The  first  suc- 
cessful attempts  were  made  in  the  sixteenth  century.  By 
examination,  we  find  that  success  has  always  been  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  extent  of  effort.  Those  who  have  been 
most  successful  of  all,  in  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  are 


126  APPENDIX    B. 

our  Moravian  brethren ;  and  it  is  of  peculiar  interest  to  us 
that,  whilst  these  brethren  differ  with  us  in  their  discipline 
and  usages,  their  doctrines  are  identical  with  our  own. 
Every  Moravian  is  personally  pledged  to  the  great  Confes- 
sion of  Augsburg.  They  now  have  many  missions  ;  and 
we  have  it  from  reliable  authority,  that  more  than  forty 
thousand  of  the  most  destitute  of  our  race,  have  through 
their  efforts  alone  been  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  When  we  consider,  that  the  Moravian  brethren  are 
comparatively  not  numerous,  we  can  not  but  admire  their 
zeal  and  liberality,  and  further,  bid  them  Grod  speed. 

The  Church  of  England  is  also  extensively  engaged  in 
the  work  of  foreign  missions.  And  our  own  beloved 
Lutheran  Church  has  not  been  idle  in  this  work.  Several 
worthy  men  have,  within  the  last  few  years,  been  sent  to 
India,  by  our  Church  in  Germany,  and  even  by  certain 
portions  of  our  Church  in  this  country.  These  men  have 
labored,  some  of  them  are  still  laboring,  with  considerable 
success.  I  am  truly  sorry  to  give  the  truth  publicity,  but 
such  is  the  stubborn  fact,  that  whilst  all  other  Synods  are 
engaged  in  this  good  work,  our  Synod  has,  thus  far,  done 
nothing.  The  true  missionary  spirit  has  long  prevailed  in 
the  Lutheran  Church ;  and  the  success  of  portions  of  our 
own  brethren  in  other  divisior:s  of  our  Church  should  serve 
as  a  very  strong  incentive  to  action.  But  the  object  we 
contemplate  at  present  is  of  narrow  limit.  Being,  as  we 
are,  unfortunately  hemmed  in,  we  must  first  learn  to  do 
something  for  home  inissions,  and  this  certainly  is  forced 
upon  us  by  the  necessity  of  the  case. 

4.  I  would  remark,  that  the  bleeding  state  of  our  beloved 
Zion,  is  a  very  strong  incentive  to  immediate  action. 

(a)  The  comparative  purity  and  soundness  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  has  already  been  hinted ;  besides, 


APPENDIX   B.  127 

it  has  been  stated  that  in  exact  proportion  to  the  purity  of 
the  Christian  doctrine  preached  at  any  given  locality,  is  the 
amount  of  good  effected  thereby,  either  in  a  civil,  moral,  or 
religious  sense.  Upon  this  ground,  believing  as  we  most 
confidently  do  that  our  doctrines  are  decidedly  the  most 
scriptural  of  any,  we  are  induced  to  insist  upon  the  necessity 
of  exerting  ourselves  to  disseminate  them  as  widely  as 
possible. 

(b)  Christian  affection  ought  to  prompt  us  to  do  all  we 
can  for  the  supply  of  those  who,  with  us,  love  our  Church 
and  doctrines ;  those  whom  circumstance,  or  necessity,  has 
placed  beyond  their  reach  —  especially  when  many,  very 
many,  of  them  ^re  bound  to  us  by  more  ties  than  one  ; 
many  who  are  our  neighbors,  brothers  and  sisters,  sons 
and  daughters. 

The  great  Mississippi  valley,  for  the  last  T5  years,  has 
been  the  great  receptacle  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
Atlantic  States.  With  the  general  fertility  of  its  soil  is 
combined  the  cheapness  of  its  lands,  owing  partly  to  the 
extent,  and  partly  to  the  vast  amount,  of  its  public  domain. 
These  things,  combined  with  the  salubrity  of  its  climate, 
have  induced  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the  sons 
of  this  and  sister  States,  where  we  have  Lutheran  congre- 
gations, to  emigrate.  This  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  constant 
drain  upon  our  Church  here.  In  many  instances  our  de- 
crease has  excelled  our  increase — so  much  so  that  some  of 
our  once  flourishing  congregations  have  become  extinct,  and 
others  so  much  enfeebled  as  scarcely  to  be  able  to  maintain 
an  existence.  Others  still  are  less  numerous  now  than 
formerly  :  some  are  not  as  prosperous  as  it  is  desiraVle  they 
should  be.  Nearly  all  this  is  so,  because  our  people  re- 
move from  us  either  into  the  far  West,  or  into  some  neigh- 
boring State  or  locality ;  nearly  all  of  these  emigrants  are 


128  APPENDIX   B. 

lost  to  our  Church.  They  are  lost,  because  there  are  no 
Lutheran  ministers  and  churches  within  a  reasonable  dis- 
tance from  their  adopted  residences.  "Whilst  on  the  one 
hand,  they  have  no  inclination  to  abandon  the  faith  of  their 
fathers;  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  e^jually  unwilling  to 
abandon  the  early  impressions  received  around  the  paternal 
hearth,  and  in  the  Church  of  their  fathers ;  believing  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  one  to  stand  in  connection  with  some  con- 
gregation of  believers.  They  are  placed  under  the  painful 
necessity  of  foregoing  their  feelings  of  repugnance  to  the 
doctrines  and  usages  of  other  denominations,  and  unite  witli 
them — a  thing  they  never  could  have  done,  had  they  been 
within  reach  of  the  Church  of  their  choice.  How  often  have 
such  persons  sent  over  the  Macedonian  cry  to  us  in  our 
Synodical  meetings  for  help  !  Witliin  the  last  20  years 
petition  after  petition  has  been  sent  to  us  from  diiferent 
States — from  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Alabama,  and 
Arkansas.  And  what,  my  dear  brethren,  oh,  what!  has 
been  done  for  these  petitioners  ?  Shall  I  say  nothing  ?  Alas! 
I  am  forced  to  say  nothing!  nothing!/  And  why  have 
we  done  nothing  f  i  am  constrained  to  say  what  you  know 
to  be  the  truth — because,  we  have  been  fettered  by  a 
policy  unsuited  to  the  age  and  country  in  which  we  live. 
This  unsuitable  policy  has  been  sealed  upon  us  by  the  foul 
invectives  of  an  individual  who  once  had  much  more  influence 
than  was  at  all  deserved,  but  is  now  upon  the  shore  of  the 
dead  sea  of  oblivion.  Besides,  this  mistaken  policy  has  fet- 
tered the  conscience  of  our  people  generally  with  fears,  and 
furnished  the  penurious  with  grounds  for  opposition :  until,  in 
urging  the  claims  of  missions,  we  have  many,  verg  many 
serious  difficulties  to  encounter.  So  much  is  this  the  case, 
that  the  issue  is  still  doubtful.  Nevertheless,  I  trust  and 
pray  that,  under  the  guidance  of  an  overruling  Providence, 


APPENDIX   B.  129 

we  may  be  able  to  adopt  a  plan  whereby  to  consummate  the 
great  object  contemplated  in  our  present  meeting.  And 
now  the  inquiry  forces  itself  upon  us :  What  must  we  do  ? 
What  can  we  do  ?  Shall  we  continue  to  suffer  our  members 
to  remove  from  us,  as  heretofore,  and  to  be  lost  to  us,  if  not 
to  Heaven  in  many  instances,  and  not  attempt  to  follow  them 
with  our  ministers  and  churches?  Nay,  we  will  not!  Me- 
thinks  I  can  see  developed  in  the  countenance  of  every 
intelligent  member  of  our  Church  present  a  willingness, 
yea,  an  ardent  desire,  to  make  the  utmost  exertion  to  in- 
augurate and  execute  a  successful  plan  for  Synodical  mis- 
sionary operations,  to  cast  off  the  fetters  of  our  binding 
policy,  and  to  glorify  God  by  consecrating  our  energies  and 
resources  towards  the  fulfillment  of  His  divine  command — 
to  "preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 


THE  TENNESSEE  SYNOD  BUILT  UPON  THE  ONLY  TRUE 
FOUNDATION. 
A  Sermon  Preached  hy  the  Rev.  A.  J,  Fox^  at  the  Dedi- 
cation of  St,  Mark^s  E.  L.  Church,  Rowan  county,  N. 
C,  October  3d,  1880, 

Text  :  '  *  And  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone  ;  in 
whom  all  the  building  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto  an  holy- 
temple  in  the  Lord  :  in  whom  ye  are  also  builded  together  for  an 
habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit."— Eph.  ii.  20-22. 

To  enforce  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  upon  the  minds  of 
the  disciples  and  followers  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as 
well  as  upon  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  all  coming  time,  our  blessed  Redeemer  and  his 
Apostles  were  very  much  accustomed  to  employ  figures, 
drawn  from  the  things  surrounding  them.  A  most  beautiful 
6* 


130  APPENDIX   B. 

and  impressive  one  we  find  in  the  text  now  before  us  for 
consideration.  This  figure  is  drawn  from  the  art  of  archi- 
tecture. The  letter  containing  our  text  was  addressed  by 
St.  Paul  to  the  church  in  Ephesus,  the  city  in  which  that 
most  magnificent  superstructure,  the  temple  of  the  goddess 
Diana,  was  located,  which  Pliny  said  ''  was  220  years  in 
being  constructed,  was  425  feet  in  length  and  220  in  breath. 
On  account  of  the  immensitity  of  its  size,  structure  and 
beauty  of  embellishments,  it  was  considered  one  of  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world."  The  Apostle  in  our  text  evidently 
had  reference  to  that  grand  specimen  of  human  architec- 
ture, and  intended  thereby  to  illustrate  some  of  the  true 
characteristics  of  the  Church  of  Christ ;  and  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, to  impress  the  minds  of  all  Christians  with  the  import- 
ance of  regarding  the  Church  of  Christ  as  vastly  superior  to 
this,  the  grandest  of  all  heathen  temples ;  and  thus  to 
establish,  in  their  minds,  a  profound  veneration  and  esteem 
for  the  glorious  edifice  which  the  blessed  Saviour  of  our 
race  has  so  emphatically  promised  to  build  and  defend,  even 
against  the  gates  of  hell,  and  to  show  the  inestimable  value 
of  being  an  integral  portion  of  a  building  so  glorious  and 
divine.  We  therefore  regard  the  theme  of  our  text  to  be 
the  work  of  building  the  house  of  God,  which  St.  Paul  says 
elsewhere  "  is  the  Church  oi  the  living  God,  the  ground  and 
pillar  of  the  truth." 

The  great  Apostle  in  our  text,  as  well  as  in  many  other 
portions  of  his  epistles,  very  forcibly  insists  upon  the  import- 
ance and  necessity  of  a  good  foundation  in  all  things  spirit- 
ual and  eternal.  Indeed  such  precaution,  all  experience 
proves,  is  essentially  necessary  even  in  all  national  and  tem- 
poral things.  Without  this  (using  the  term  foundation 
either  literally  or  figuratively)  there  can  be  no  well 
grounded  hope   of  success  in  anything.     Without  this  no 


APPENDIX    B.  131 

architect  could  construct  even  the  smallest  building  with  any 
reasonable  hope  that  it  could  survive  the  storms  of  wind  and 
the  pelting  of  the  rains  that  must  fall  upon  his  work.  With- 
out such  attention  to  fundamentals  none  could  even  attain  to 
eminence  in  literature,  science,  eloquence,  architecture,  ag- 
riculture, or  indeed  in  anything  human.  It  iiS  not  wonder- 
ful, therefore,  that  so  much  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the 
necessity  of  being  particularly  attentive  to  this  mattter,  in 
commencing,  fitting  up,  and  completing  a  superstructure 
which  is  spiritual^  and  of  such  goodly  proportions  as  the 
temple  of  the  only  true  and  living  God. 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  world,  God  had  a  people 
upon  the  earth — in  other  words,  the  work  of  building  the 
Church  upon  earth  was  commenced.  The  work  was  under- 
taken by  the  Lord  Himself.  The  foundation  was  laid  and 
the  building  was  commenced  by  His  own  hands.  The  work 
was  carried  so  far  forward  by  Himself  that  it  could  safely  be 
left  for  completion  to  such  agents  as  He  from  time  to  time 
might  select,  appoint,  equip  and  send  forth  to  the  work  He 
specially  appointed  to  each  one  of  them.  First  were  the 
prophets.  Prominent  among  them  was  Noah,  who  for  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years  was  engaged  in  predicting  the 
deluge,  and  in  constructing  an  ark  in  which  he  and  his 
family  alone  escaped  the  destruction  which  fell  upon  the  an- 
tediluvian world ;  Jonah,  who  was  sent  to  predict  destruction 
to  Nineveh  ;  and  Moses,  who  Avas  specially  commissioned  to 
deliver  the  children  of  Israel  from  their  bondage  in  Egypt 
and  conduct  them  to  the  land  of  promise.  This  is  the 
prophet  who  predicted  the  raising  up  of  a  prophet  at  some 
future  time  from  among  the  brethren  like  unto  him,  whom 
they  should  hear  in  all  his  teachings.  In  this  prophecy  he 
very  evidently  had  reference  to  the  chief  corner-stone  men- 
tioned in  our  text — "  the  head  of  the  corner  in  the  temple." 


132  APPENDIX    B. 

This,  most  assuredly,  was  the  foundation  upon  which  all  the 
Old  Testament  worthies  based  all  their  hopes  of  redemption 
and  salvation.  This  is  He  concerning  whom  Isaiah  prophesied 
in  his  38th  chapter  and  16th  verse :  "  Behold  I  lay  in 
Zion  for  a  foundation  a  stone,  a  precious  corner-stone,  a 
sure  foundation."  This  is  He  of  whom  David,  too,  sang: 
"  The  stone  which  the  builders  refused  is  become  the  head 
stone  of  the  corner."  Ps.  cxviii.  22.  Of  Him,  indeed,  did 
all  the  prophets  prophesy.  These  were  the  holy  men  of 
whom  St.  Peter  writes  when  he  says  "  they  spake  (proph- 
esied) as  they  Avere  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  2  Pet. 
i.  21.  To  these  quotations  we  could,  if  necessary,  add 
many  more  ;  but  we  regard  them  amply  sufficient  to  satisfy 
every  one  that  Jesus  Christ  wa;S  the  only  foundation  of  the 
Old  Testament  Church,  in  both  its  patriarchal  and  prophetic 
forms,  and  upon  Him  rested  all  their  hopes  of  deliverance. 
The  old  Church  still  existed  at  the  time  of  his  birth  at  Bethle- 
hem of  Judea,  and  there  was  given  the  angelic  annunciation, 
"Fear  not,  for  behold  I  bring  you  good  tidings,  which  shall 
be  to  all  people ;  for  unto  3^ou  is  born  this  day,  in  the 
city  of  David,  a  Saviour  which  is  Christ  the  Lord."  And  for 
this  reason,  w^hen  He  was  first  brought  into  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  Simeon,  an  aged  prophet,  who  had  been  taught 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  his  life  would  be  preserved  until  he 
had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ,  as  soon  as  he  had  looked  upon 
Him,  took  Him  into  his  arms,  and  after  expressing  his  willing- 
ness now  to  depart,  made  many  predictions  concerning  His 
future  greatness  and  glory.  Luke  ii.  25-35.  To  the  testi- 
mony of  these  and  many  others  Jesus  Himself  appeals  as  his 
only  testimonies.  John  v.  39.  To  such  pro])hetic  writings  he 
had  special  reference  when  he  so  boldly  exclaimed:  "He  that 
believeth  on  me  as  the  Scriptures  have  said,"  John  vii.  38. 
The   Church  while  she  continued  to  preserve  her  first 


APPENDIX    B.  133 

estate  was  entirely  pure  and  holy,  and  served  all  the  pur- 
poses for  which  her  great  Founder  had  intended  her.  But 
she  became  corrupted  by  the  devices  of  men.  So  much  was 
this  the  case,  that  she  was  scarcely  able  to  maintain  her 
identity.  She  greatly  needed  reformation,  renewal,  and 
completion.  When  her  great  Author  came  to  do  these 
things,  she  rejected  Him.  "He  came  unto  His  own  and  His 
own  received  him  not."  John  i.  11.  Notwithstandincj, 
when  He  had  come  in  the  manner  predicted  of  Him,  and  had 
attained  the  age  of  thirty  years.  He  went  boldly  to  work  in 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  His  earthly  mission.  His  first 
care  was,  by  His  own  hand,  to  reform  His  Church,  and  per- 
fect the  work  of  building  that  superstructure  which  had 
already  been  nearly  four  thousand  years  in  the  process  of 
erection.  The  first  thing  He  did  was  to  call,  appoint  and  or- 
dain a  number  of  men,  equal  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel, 
whom  He  called  Apostles,  thereby  indicating  the  work  as- 
signed them.  To  these  men  He  declared  that  He  would 
build  His  Church,  and  promised  that  the  gates  of  hell  should 
not  prevail  against  it.  In  His  inimitable  sermon  upon  the 
mount,  He  very  earnestly  warned  them  that  in  the  part  they 
would  take  in  the  work,  to  use  great  caution  in  regard  to 
the  foundation,  which  must  in  all  cases  be  a  rock,  and  not 
the  sand,  Matt.  vii.  24,  27.  In  regard  to  building  His 
Church,  He  expressed  His  determination  to  build  it  upon  a 
particular  rock,  Matt.  xvi.  18,  18.  This  must  be  the  same 
corner-stone  upon  which  the  Church  of  God  was  at  first 
founded,  and  built  in  the  time  of  the  prophets.  Otherwise 
the  Christian  Church  would  be  another  Church,  which  would 
be  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God,  for  the  Word  of  God 
everywhere  teaches  us  that  God  has  not  now,  and  never 
had,  more  than  one  Church.  The  Church  of  God  is  a  unit 
— the  same  Church  in  all  ages  of  the  world.     The  only  dif- 


134  APPENDIX   B. 

ference  is,  the  Church  of  the  Old  Testament  was  built  upon 
the  rock  Christ  in  the  prospective  ;  that  is,  their  faith  em- 
braced Christ  to  come.  The  Church  now  has  retrospective 
faith  ;  she  builds  upon  Christ,  who  has  come  into  the  world 
and  redeemed  it. 

After  Jesus  Christ  had  accomplished  the  entire  purposes 
of  His  mission  to  earth,  He  again  committed  the  work  of 
continuing  to  build  His  Church  here  below  to  human  agen- 
cies. These  were  His  apostles,  their  coadjutors  and  their 
successors.  These  men  continued  to  build  upon  the  same 
foundation — the  one  upon  which  the  fathers  did — and 
that  was  Jesus  Christ.  That  this  doctrine  is  true,  is  evident 
from  our  text.  St.  Paul  says,  "  Jesus  Christ,  being  the 
chief  corner-stone,  is  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets."  He  is  the  only  foundation  that  can  be  laid  by 
any  man.  In  proof  of  this,  we  quote  the  language  of  St. 
Paul,  1  Cor.  iii.  11 :  "  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay 
than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ."  It  is  plain,  there- 
fore, that  wherever  Jesus  Christ  is  made  the  foundation  as 
the  Scriptures  teach,  there  is  the  true  and  only  foundation, 
and  there  is  the  "house  of  God,  the  ground  and  pillar  of 
the  truth."  1  Tim.  iii.  15.  But  wherever  this  foundation 
is  wanting,  no  matter  what  the  claims  of  any  organization 
may  be,  the  Church  does  not,  and  cannot  exist.  Every 
species  of  paganism  is  false,  because  no  form  of  paganism 
has  this  foundation.  As  the  Jews  reject  Jesus  Christ,  they 
set  aside  also  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
and  therefore  the  whole  superstructure  rests  upon  the  sand, 
and  can  no  more  stand  the  storm  o£  winds  and  rains  that 
will  one  day  beat  upon  it,  than  the  churches  of  the  pagans 
can  do.  For  the  same  reason  must  Mohammedanism  and 
Mormonism  fail,  utterly  fail.  It  is  true  that  they  profess 
to  build  upon  this  unfailing  foundation,  but  they  fail  to  ac- 


APPENDIX   B.  135 

cept  Him  as  the  "  Scriptures  say;"  and  these  are  His  only 
testimonies.  John  v.  39.  On  the  same  account  the  Romish 
Church  is  greatly  in  error,  though  she  has  the  true  founda- 
tion but  fails  to  build  upon  Him  as  the  Scriptures  direct. 
The  entire  system  of  Unitarianism  is  utterly  and  baselessly 
unsound — because  it  denies  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  Any 
system  that  does  not  fully  recognize  Christ  as  the  only  foun- 
dation, is  not  fully  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Church  of  the 
"  living  God." 

Having  fully  established  the  facts  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  illustrated  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  by  the  figure  of 
a  building  or  house,  that  her  only  foundation  is  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  the  chief  corner-stone,  that  God  never  has  had  more 
than  one  Church  upon  earth,  and  that  her  foundation  in  all 
ages  of  the  world  must  be  identically  the  same,  we  are  now 
prepared  to  examine  the  material  of  which  it  must  be  com- 
posed, and  the  superstructure  as  we  may  now  see  it. 

The  Scriptures  teach  us  that  it  is  of  no  less  importance 
to  use  proper  material  in  constructing  the  Church  than  to 
build  upon  the  proper  foundation.  St.  Paul  says,  1  Cor. 
iii.  10-16,  "As  a  wise  master  builder,  I  have  laid  the  foun- 
dation, and  another  buildeth  thereon :  But  let  every  man 
take  heed  how  he  buildeth  thereupon.  For  other  founda- 
tion can  no  man  lay,  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ. 
Now,  if  any  man  build  upon  this  foundation,  gold,  silver, 
precious  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble,  every  man's  works  shall 
be  made  manifest,  for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  because  it 
shall  be  revealed  by  fire,  and  fire  shall  try  every  man's 
work  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  works  abide,  which 
he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any 
man's  works  shall  be  burned  he  shall  sufier  loss,  but  he 
himself  shall  be  saved  so  as  by  fire." 

As  the  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God  to  whom  the 


136  APPENDIX   B. 

word  of  reconciliation  is  committed  (1  Cor.  iv.  1,  and  2 
Uor.  V.  19),  we,  whom  St.  Paul  declares  to  be  workers  to- 
gether with  him  (2  Cor.  vi.  1),  should  exercise  the  great- 
est caution  in  regard  to  both  the  foundation  upon  which  we 
place  our  superstructure  and  the  material  we  use  in  its  con- 
struction. It  is  lamentably  true  that  very  many  who  have 
been,  and  many  who  are  now,  professedly  engaged  in  this 
great  work,  have  not  only  failed  to  be  sufficiently  cautious, 
but  have  been  entirely  reckless  in  regard  to  these  things 
The  result,  therefore,  has  been  a  vast  deal  of  discord  and 
division  amongst  those  who  are  at  work  upon  this  building. 
Church  history  furnishes  us  evidences  that  such  a  state  of 
things  existed  amongst  the  members  of  the  Christian  Church 
in  the  very  earliest  periods  of  her  existence.  Parties  sprung 
up,  and  one  chose  this  man  as  his  leader,  and  another  that 
one.  But  as  their  leaders  were  fully  united,  these  diifer- 
ences  were  easily  adjusted.  But  after  a  time,  discordant 
elements  appeared  among  the  professed  leaders.  At  first 
heterodoxy  was  limited  both  in  the  number  of  subjects  and 
advocates.  Orthodoxy  was  the  rule,  and  heterodoxy  was 
the  exception.  The  unhappy  disputes  that  arose  concern- 
ing the  proper  time  for  observing  the  festival  of  Easter, 
resulted  in  such  a  state  of  feeling  among  the  members  of  the 
Church,  as  finally  to  culminate  in  the  complete  separation 
of  the  Church  into  the  Eastern  and  Western  divisions.  The 
sad  result  of  this  breach  has  not  been  wiped  out  by  the 
lapse  of  more  than  twelve  centuries.  The  Greek  and  Rom- 
ish Churches  are  still  separate,  and  probably  will  always 
remain  entirely  distinct. 

Not  far  from  the  same  time,  though  somewhat  later,  an- 
other controversy  arose  between  one  Arius,  a  Presbyter, 
and  his  Bishop,  Alexander,  which  resulted  in  the  expulsion 
of  Arius  from  the  Church,  but  failed  to  expel  the  error  for 


APPENDIX   B.  137 

which  he  contended.  To- day  the  orthodox  Trinitarians,  who 
maintain  the  true  scriptural  doctrines  of  the  triune  existence 
of  God  and  the  Deity  and  Eternal  Sonship  of  Jesus  Christ, 
are  opposed  by  those  who  are  distinguished  by  the  various 
titles  of  Arians,  Socinians  and  Unitarians,  with  the  open 
denial  of  these  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  truth  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 

The  Greek  Church  has  her  errors,  but  from  all  we  can 
learn  she  has  preserved  her  original  doctrines  and  usages 
much  better  than  the  Romish  Church.  For  more  than  one 
thousand  years  errors,  both  in  doctrine  and  practice,  were 
multiplying  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  She  planted  herself 
in  nearly  all  European  countries.  She  seized  upon  the  civil 
governments  of  the  nations,  and  for  a  long  time  she  proudly 
put  to  defiance  all  that  in  the  smallest  degree  interfered 
with  her  proud  claims  and  pretensions.  The  most  terrible 
oppression  prevailed  everywhere.  The  common  people 
were  not  allowed  to  read  or  even  see  the  Bible.  The  se- 
verest penance  was  required  for  the  smallest  offences.  Mar- 
riages were  forbidden  the  clergy.  Pilgrimages  were  lauded 
to  the  skies.  The  sacramental  cup  was  not  allowed  the  or- 
dinary communicant.  The  absurd  doctrine  of  Transubstan- 
tiation  became  an  established  dogma.  The  extravagances 
of  the  Popes. demanded  enormous  amounts  of  money,  which 
at  last  gave  rise  to  the  selling  of  indulgences  for  past  and 
future  sins,  and  very  many  were  induced  to  invest  money  in 
them,  and  thus  barter  away  their  souls.  Upon  this  nefar- 
ious business  a  monk,  whose  name  was  John  Tetzel,  was 
sent  into  Saxony.  The  effrontery  of  this  man,  with  his 
enormous  claims  for  the  value  of  his  wares,  and  the  immens- 
ity of  his  vocal  powers,  secured  for  him  great  success.  All 
were  deeply  interested,  some  were  delighted,  but  many  were 
disgusted  J  though  for  a  time  none  dared  to  oppose  him, 


138  APPENDIX    B. 

The  time,  however,  at  length  came  when  the  Great  Head 
of  the  Church  determined  to  interpose  in  behalf  of  His  peo- 
ple. As  in  former  ages  he  had  raised  up  Noah,  David, 
Samuel,  Samson,  Gideon,  Daniel,  Jesus  Christ,  Peter,  John, 
James,  Paul,  and  many  others,  for  the  particular  work  each 
one  performed,  so  was  Martin  Luther  raised  up,  and  by 
many  peculiar  experiences  prepared  to  commence  and  suc- 
cessfully carry  out  the  mighty  revolution  by  which  the 
Romish  Church  was  arrested  in  her  abominable  work  of 
falsehood  and  oppression.  In  all  his  trials,  advantages,  and 
disadvantages,  there  was  nothing  that  did  so  much  to  qual- 
ify him  for  the  mighty  work  to  be  achieved  by  him,  as  his 
accidentally  finding  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  When 
he  had  found  it,  he  eagerly  read  it,  and  meditated  upon  its 
truths  day  and  night.  He  was  surprised  and  greatly  aston- 
ished at  his  own  ignorance  and  the  extreme  ignorance  of  the 
people  in  regard  to  the  holy  religion  they  professed.  He 
studied  earnestly,  faithfully,  and  prayerfully,  and  began  to 
write,  preach,  and  publish  its  life-giving  words.  On  the 
31st  day  of  October,  1517,  he  boldly  posted  up  his  ninety- 
five  theses  upon  the  door  of  the  palace  chapel  in  the  city  of 
Wittenberg,  and  openly  proposed  to  defepd  them  against 
any  who  might  oppose  him.  This  extraordinary  act,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  at  once  created  the  most  intense 
excitement  in  that  community,  and  very  soon  spread  all  over 
Germany.  And  in  no  great  while  it  spread  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  Romish  Church.  The  supremacy  of  the 
Pope  was  called  in  question.  The  doctrines  and  usages  of 
the  Church  were  indirectly  assailed,  and  especially  was  the 
whole  doctrine  of  indulgences  denounced.  One  who  until 
then  had  lived  in  obscurity,  very  suddenly  became  one  of 
the  most  prominent  men  in  all  Christendom. 

The  attack  was  not  made   upon  the  foundation  of  the 


APPENDIX    B.  139 

Church ;  but  Luther  openly  pronounced  much  of  the  mate- 
rial employed  in  building  it  entirely  unfit  for  use.  He  had 
studied  the  Holy  Scriptures  attentively  and  faithfully,  and 
he  had  found  that  the  instruction  of  Him  who  had  said  "  I 
will  build  my  church,"  had  been  lost  sight  of;  that  human 
devices  had  been  substituted,  and  therefore  the  body  politic 
had  become  a  mass  of  error  and  corruption.  He  had  no 
intention  to  become  a  reformer,  but  as  he  had  found  the 
only  proper  standard  of  the  truth,  he,  in  his  simplicity, 
thought  that  all  that  was  necessary  to  correct  the  mistakes 
he  had  discovered,  was  to  call  the  attention  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Church  to  this  only  standard  of  truth,  and  therefore  he 
earnestly  strove  to  give  it  all  possible  publicity.  That  word, 
concerning  which  the  Psalmist  sings  in  the  119th  Psalm, 
"  Thy  word  is  a  light  unto  my  feet,  and  a  lamp  unto  my 
path" — that  word  he  had  found  in  the  Bible,  and  to  these 
sacred  writings  his  object  was  to  direct  the  attention  of  the 
Church.  By  them  he  had  been  enabled  to  see  the  light, 
and  he  supposed  that  if  others  could  only  become  acquainted 
w^ith  their  teachings,  they  would  all  at  once  admit  their  cap- 
ability of  making  men  wise  unto  salvation.  2  Tim.  iii.  16. 
But  in  this  he  was  most  sadly  disappointed.  He  was  des- 
tined to  meet  from  the  Pope  and  most  of  the  higher  clergy 
the  most  violent  opposition,  that  must  very  soon  have  com- 
pletely crushed  his  well-meant  efforts,  had  they  not  been 
appreciated  by  some  of  the  most  wise,  prudent,  and  other- 
wise distinguished  princes  of  the  empire.  These  men  very 
soon  boldly  espoused  his  cause,  and  openly  defended  him 
and  the  truths  he  promulgated.  Many,  too,  of  the  most 
learned  men  of  Germany  and  other  countries  soon  came  to 
his  assistance,  and  rendered  him  very  important  aid.  Among 
these,  Philip  Melanchthon,  George  Spalatin,  John  Bugen- 
hagen,  Justus  Jonas,  Ulric  Zwinglius,  and  John  Calvin,  de- 


140  APPENDIX    B. 

serve  honorable  mention.  The  ball  once  put  in  motion  never 
stopped  until  the  mightiest  revolution  the  Church  ever  saw 
was  effected.  The  most  powerful  efforts  were  made  to  sup- 
press its  progress,  and  to  destroy  Luther  himself.  But  the 
hand  of  God  was  in  it,  and  He  has  said,  "  My  word  shall  not 
return  unto  me  void,  but  shall  accomplish  that  which  I 
please."     Isaiah  Iv.  11. 

Luther  was  arraigned  before  the  Diet  of  the  Empire  in  the 
city  of  Worms,  and  in  the  presence  of  that  illustrious  Em- 
peror, Charles  the  Fifth,  and  all  the  princes  of  his  mighty 
dominions,  he  was  publicly  called  upon  to  recant  all  that  he 
had  published  in  regard  to  these  things.  This  he  most  pos- 
itively refused  to  do  unless  it  were  shown  that  his  writings 
were  contrary  to  the  word  of  God.  This  his  opponents  did 
not  attempt  to  do,  yet  he  was  persistently  urged  to  recant 
without  any  proof  of  error.  He  was  equally  persistent  in 
his  refusal  to  comply  with  their  demands,  and  finally,  in  the 
face  of  that  august  body  of  men  and  in  the  face  of  the  great- 
est dangers  to  his  person,  he  made  that  most  noble  and  ever 
memorable  declaration,  ''Hier  stehe  ich,  ich  kann  nichts 
anders,  Gott  hilfe  mir!"  "Here  I  stand,  I  cannot  do 
otherwise,  God  help  me!  "  The  result  was  that  an  edict  of 
condemnation  was  pronounced  upon  him.  He  was  publicly 
outlawed,  and  was  thereby  made  liable  to  be  destroyed  by 
any  who  might  meet  him.  His  prince,  Frederick  the  Wise, 
the  Elector  of  Saxony,  one  of  the  most  powerfu  princes  of 
the  empire,  interposed,  but  he  was  arrested,  and  for  personal 
protection  he  was  for  many  months  incarcerated  in  the  Cas- 
tle at  Wartburg.  Whilst  there,  he  accomplished  the  most 
important  and  essential  part  of  the  work  of  the  Reformation. 
It  was  then  and  there  he  made  the  translation  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  into  the  language  of  his  country.  Hitherto,  they 
had  been  shut  up  in  the  dead  languages.     But  now,  having 


APPENDIX   B.  141 

an  open  Bible,  there  could  be  no  more  "let  or  hindrance" 
to  the  progress  of  the  Reformation.  Every  one  could  read 
and  see  for  himself  that  Luther's  teachings  were  true  expos- 
ures of  the  errors  of  Rome.  All  might  now  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  the  light  by  which  Luther  himself  was  guided. 
But  opposition  grew  more  and  more  violent,  yet  less  and 
less  effective.  A  mighty  engine  had  been  set  into  motion — 
the  same  that  had  been  instrumental  in  the  hands  of  the 
apostles  and  prophets  in  building  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
the  earliest  periods  of  her  existence,  which  had  effected  the 
mightest  achievements  ever  commenced  upon  the  earth.  It 
was  the  instrument  which  for  so  many  ages  had  been  lying 
dormant,  but  had  now  been  discovered  and  brought  into  full 
play.  It  shook  the  very  foundations  of  the  papal  throne, 
and  inflicted  the  tremendous  wound  upon  the  Romish  hier- 
archy, from  which  she  has  never  been  able  and  never  can 
recover. 

The  work  of  the  Reformation  was  carried  on  in  a  more 
general  way  from  1517  to  1527,  when  to  assist  the  younger 
and  more  illiterate  portions  of  the  people,  Luther  published 
his  Catechisms,  the  Larger  and  the  Smaller,  containing  an 
epitome  of  the  true  teachings  and  interpretations  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Three  years  later,  on  the  25th  day  of 
June,  1530,  in  the  city  of  Augsburg,  before  another  famous 
Diet  of  the  Empire,  the  twenty-eight  articles  of  the  Augus- 
tana,  or  Confession  of  Augsburg,  were  publicly  read  and 
acknowledged  by  many  princes  and  learned  doctors  of  the 
empire.  Luther  and  the  other  Reformers  in  this  most  noble 
Confession,  by  constantly  appealing  to  the  authority  of  the 
Church  as  expressed  in  the  three  universally  acknowledged 
standards  of  the  faith — the  ancient  Symbols,  Apostolic, 
Athanasian,  and  Nicene  Creeds — and  the  writings  of  the 
Fathers  generally,  and,  above  all,  to  the  clear  teachings  of 


142  APPENDIX   B. 

the  Holy  Scriptures,  incontestably  proved  that  they  were 
not  the  enemies  of  the  ancient,  time-honored  and  Heaven- 
blessed  Church,  but  were  the  friends  and  true  successors  of 
those  who  were  its  founders,  and  that  their  work  was  only 
an  effort  to  remove  the  rubbish  which  had  been  allowed  to 
collect  through  the  lapse  of  the  preceeding  ages,  to  dig 
down  upon  the  only  true  foundation,  "Jesus  Christ  being 
the  chief  corner-stone,"  to  expurgate  the  Church  from  all 
human  redundances  and  appliances,  to  re-establish  the  cus- 
toms enjoined  by  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  and  to 
employ  such  means  and  materials  as  He  has  required. 

Instead  of  receiving  the  thanks  and  esteem  of  the  whole 
Church  for  their  labor  of  love  to  the  Redeemer,  like  their 
great  Master,  they  met  from  many,  and  especially  from  the 
Pope  and  his  admirers,  the  most  violent  and  determined  op- 
position. An  attempt  was  made  to  refute  the  Confession 
made  at  Augsburg,  which  was  completely  disproved  and 
exposed  by  Melanchthon,  in  that  unanswerable  work  known 
as  the  Apology.  Other  events  occasioned  the  Articles  of 
Smalcald.  In  1580,  only  fifty  years  after  the  delivery  of 
the  Augustana,  a  fuller  and  clearer  expression  of  the  faith 
of  the  Church  was  of  necessity  brought  out  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Formula  of  Concord,  the  Epitome  and  Full 
Declaration.  It  was  then  that  a  complete  embodiment  of  all 
the  authentic  confessions  of  the  Church  was  made  in  what 
has  ever  since  been  known  and  distinguished  as  The  Booh 
of  Concord.  This  great  work  is  now,  and  for  the  last  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years  has  been,  the  only  true  confessional 
standard  of  what  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  an  epithet  at  first  given  to  her  by  her  enemies, 
in  derision,  but  which  now  for  many  reasons  is  accepted  by 
her,  though  she  has  always  preferred  to  be  called  the  Evan- 
gelical Church,  and  hence  the  name.  Evangelical  Lutheran 


APPENDIX   B.  143 

Church,  as  she  now  names  herself,  to  express  her  denomina- 
tional distinction. 

The  Lutheran  Church  is  confessedly  the  mother  of  all 
Protestant  denominations  in  the  world.  Her  numerical 
strength  is  equal  to  twice  the  number  of  all  the  other  Pro- 
testants. 

Formerly,  in  this  country  she  was  numerically  small,  but 
within  the  last  forty-five  years  she  has  increased  from  not 
more  than  40,000  communing  members,  to  not  less  than 
825,000.  She  now  stands  the  third  numerically  in  North 
America.  There  is  one  very  noteworthy  fact  connected 
with  the  history  of  our  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  to 
which  I  desire  to  direct  particular  attention.  Whilst  she  is 
divided  into  many  diiferent  Synods,  in  this  and  other  coun- 
tries she,  as  a  Church,  is  emphatically  a  unit.  There  are 
shades  of  difierence  in  some  things,  which,  in  some  places, 
and  at  certain  times,  have  given  rise  to  very  unpleasant  and 
even  damaging  strifes,  yet  everywhere  and  always  she 
proudly  adheres  to  the  same  time-honored  Confession  of 
Faith,  the  great  Confession  of  Augsburg.  Never  has  an 
effort  to  supersede  this  great  centre  of  Lutheranism  been 
successful  anywhere,  but  all  attempts  of  that  sort  have  been 
but  signals  for  a  general  uprising  in  its  defense.  This  was 
the  case  in  this  country  but  a  few  years  ago,  when  the  Defi- 
nite Synodical  Platform,  or  the  American  Recension,  was 
published  as  a  substitute  for  the  Augsburg  Confession,  by 
Drs.  Samuel  Schmucker,  Benjamin  Kurtz,  and  Samuel 
Sprecher,  which  not  only  proved  an  entire  failure,  but,  I 
unhesitatingly  assert,  did  more  to  establish  true  Lutheran- 
ism in  this  country  than  all  else  that  has  been  done  since 
then,  and  did  much  to  damage  the  ecclesiastical  standing  of 
those  great  and  learned  men  in  the  eyes  of  all  true  Luther- 
ans, in  this  and  other  countries. 


144  APP]3NDIX   B. 

Another  very  noteworthy  fact  I  deem  it  necessary  to 
state  here :  The  Augsburg  Confession  is  not  only  the  oldest 
of  all  Protestant  confessions  of  faith,  but  has  been  acknow- 
ledged by  many  of  the  most  learned  divines  in  other  Prot- 
estant denominations,  to  have  been  the  model  for  most  of  the 
confessions  subscribed  by  the  leading  Protestant  denomina- 
tions. The  great  similarity  between  our  Confessions  and 
the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  of  this  country,  is  plain  proof  of 
this  fact.  The  Twenty-five  Articles  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church — known  as  their  Articles  of  Religion — are 
not  much  more  than  a  transcript  of  our  Confession.  The 
Westminster  Confession,  which  is  the  confession  of  most  of 
the  Presbyterian  bodies,  is  so  very  similar  in  many  of  its 
features  to  ours,  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it,  too,  is 
an  imitation  of  our  great  Lutheran  Confession. 

The  true  scripturality  of  our  Confession,  has  been  the 
subject  of  the  greatest  controversy  for  the  last  three  hun- 
dred years.  The  Romish  Church  on  the  one  hand  has  done 
all  in  her  power  to  disprove  its  doctrines.  And  ultra-Prot- 
estants on  the  other  hand,  even  including  some  whose  con- 
fessions are  very  similar  to  ours,  have  made  every  possible 
eflfort  to  set  the  truth  of  our  doctrines  in  regard  to  some 
things  aside.  But  thus  far,  all  has  been  complete  failure, 
and  the  glorious  doctrines  of  the  great  Lutheran  Reforma- 
tion stand  as  the  immovable  monuments  of  the  Divine  deliv- 
erance by  the  hand  of  Martin  Luther  and  his  immortal 
coadjutors. 

The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  now  as  ever,  claims 
that  all  the  doctrines  of  her  Symbols  are  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  Word  of  God,  and  challenges  contradiction.  She 
claims  that  she  stands  upon  the  foundation  mentioned  in  our 
text:   '^The  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets — Jesus 


APPENDIX   B.  145 

Christ  himself  the  chief  corner-stone  ;"  that  she  *'is  fitly 
framed  together,  and  is  growing  unto  a  holy  temple  in  the 
Lord."  But  she  does  not  arrogate  to  herself  the  preroga- 
tive of  heing  exclusively  the  one  only  true  Church  of  Christ. 
She  only  claims  to  be  an  integral  portion.  It  has  always 
been  the  grand  principle  of  her  faith,  as  annunciated  by 
Luther  and  the  other  Reformers,  "  that  there  are  Christians 
scattered  all  over  the  world,"  that  "wherever  the  word  of 
God  is  preached  in  its  purity  and  the  sacraments  are  admin- 
istered according  to  the  command  of  Christ  there  is  the 
Church." 

The  Lutheran  Church  has  her  distinguishing  features,  and 
by  these  she  desires  to  be  known  wherever  she  exists.  She 
alone,  among  Protestants  especially,  stands  unequivocally 
upon  her  doctrines,  and  she  regards  her  Confessions  as  a 
full  and  clear  exhibition  of  them.  Take  away  the  mode  of 
baptism,  and  the  whole  Baptist  family  will  cease  to  be. 
Take  from  Methodists  their  system  of  itineracy,  and  their 
mode  of  getting  up  and  conducting  revival  meetings,  mourn- 
ers' benches,  protracted  and  camp-meetings  and  all  their 
paraphernalia  for  extraordinary  conversions,  and  very  soon 
no  Methodist  churches  will  be  found.  Take  away  from  the 
whole  Presbyterian  family  their  mode  of  Church  govern- 
ment, and  their  ministry  of  high  literary  attainments,  and 
that  numerous  and  respectable  connection  could  maintain  no 
separate  existence.  Take  away  Episcopacy  and  the  theory 
of  Apostolic  Succession  from  the  Church  of  England,  and  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  America,  and  no  such  de- 
nominations will  be  heard  of.  Let  a  similar  rule  be  applied 
to  all  who  claim  denominational  distinction  upon  some 
merely  theoretical  hypothesis  or  some  practical  peculiarity, 
and  the  same  result  will  be  inevitable.     Not  so,  however, 

with  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.     Take  away  any  and 
7 


l46  APPENDIX    B. 

all  her  other  peculiarities  and  leave  her  doctrinal  system, 
and  she  will  still  be  able  to  maintain  her  ident'.tj.  She  will 
continue  to  be  the  same  old  Lutheran  Church.  She  stands 
upon  her  doctrines,  because  her  doctrines  are  founded 
upon  Christ,  "  ivho  is  the  chief  corner-stone  of  the  apostles 
and  prophets. ^^ 

The  founders  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America,  such 
as  Muhlenberg,  Kurtz,  Schaum,  Handschuch,  and  others, 
were  exceedingly  careful  to  make  these  well-founded  Con- 
fessions the  ground  of  their  work.  Every  congregation 
they  planted  was  founded  upon  them.  And  when  the  first 
synod  was  organized,  these  men  placed  her  squarely  upon 
the  entir3  collection  of  the  confessional  writings  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  to-day  we  find  her  occupying  the  same 
ground.  The  early  Lutheran  ministers  in  North  Carolina 
were  not  so  scrupulous  in  regard  to  the  confessional  standard. 
By  reference  to  the  records  of  the  organization  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Synod  in  this  State,  we  find  that  this  was 
done  in  Salisbury  in  the  year  1803.  But  by  some  means, 
no  confessional  basis  was  adopted.  However,  in  the  year 
1807,  a  motion,  submitted  by  Rev.  Philip  Henkel,  was 
adopted,  to  publish  the  first  twenty-one  articles  of  the  Augs- 
burg Confession,  for  the  convenience  of  the  laity,  in  pamph- 
let form.  It  is  probable  that  the  reason  all  Lutheran  Con- 
fessions were  ignored,  was  that  Rev.  Robert  J.  Miller,  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Synod,  and  for  many  years  a  promi- 
nent member,  was  not  then,  and  never  became  a  member  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  but  always  continued  to  be  an  Epis- 
copalian. Rev.  Dr.  Bernheim,  an  influential  member  of  the 
Synod  of  North  Carolina,  in  his  History  of  the  German  Set- 
tlements in  the  Carolinas,  says  that  "  Rev.  G.  Shober,  who 
very  early  became  an  active  and  influential  member,  was  a 
member  of  the  Moravian  Church."     I  am  not  aware  that 


APPENDIX    B.  147 

the  North  Carolina  Synod,  for  the  first  sixty  years  of  her 
existence,  by  any  formal  action  of  hers,  ever  placed  herself 
squarely  upon  any  one  of  the  Confessions  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  I  know  that,  until  within  the  last  few  years,  she 
never  made  a  formal  recognition  of  the  entire  collection  of 
the  Symbolical  Books  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
as  her  confessional  basis.  As  she  has  done  this,  I  trust  she 
will  continue  to  occupy  the  stand  she  has,  at  last,  so  nobly 
taken  in  this  matter. 

The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennessee  Synod  acknowledges 
herself  an  offshoot  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod  of 
North  Carolina.     What  the  causes  may  have  been  does  not 
matter  for  our  present  purpose,  but  she  took  her  separate  and 
*  independent  existence  in  the  year  1820,  and  at  her  first  con- 
vention, by  formal  action,  planted  herself  upon  the  Confes 
sion  of  Augsburg,  and  Luther's  Smaller  Catechism.    In  the 
year  1828  she  incorporated  these   symbols,  into   her  first 
regular  organic  law,  and  she  made  it  obligatory  upon  all 
her   ministers,  to  teach    nothing  that   would  conflict   with 
these  symbols.     In  the  year  1864  she  revised  her  Consti- 
tution, and  so  enlarged  her  doctrinal  basis  as  to  include  all 
the  symbolical  writings  of  the  Lutheran  church,  viz  :     The 
three  (Ecumenical  creeds,  the   Apostles',  Athanasian,  and 
Nicene,  the   Augsburg  Confession— the  Apology— the  two 
Catechisms  of  Luther,  the  Smalcald  Articles,  and  the  For- 
mula of  Concord.     The  North  Carolina  Synod  has   since 
then  adopted  the  same  confessional  basis,  and  thus  we  see, 
that  these  two  Synods,  so  far  as  Confessions  are  concerned, 
are^  now  standing  side  by  side  upon  the  identical  doctrinal 
basis  upon  which  the  Lutheran  Church  has  stood  for  the 
last  three  centuries.     It  has  been  fully  shown  in  the  former 
part  of  this  discourse  that  to  be  founded   upon  these  great 
symbols,  is  to  be  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles 
and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  being  the  chief  corner-stone. 


148  APPENDIX   B. 

The  time  was  when  the  Tennessee  Synod  was  held  in  de- 
rision by  some  on  account  of  her  determined  adherence  to 
the  true  Lutheran  doctrines.  Especially  was  this  the  case 
in  regard  to  her  uncompromising  and  open  avowal  of  her 
adherence  and  defense  of  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  But  a  very  great  change  has  taken  place 
in  the  last  few  years.  Confessionally  she  stands  as  she  has 
always  done.  At  first,  and  for  a  long  time,  she  stood  almost 
»  alone.  But  now  she  sees  that  her  doctrinal  basis  is  the 
same  with  the  General  Council,  with  her  207,205  communi- 
cants; the  Synodical  Conference,  with  her  436,000;  the 
Synod  of  North  Carolina,  with  her  4,500  communicants,  and 
the  Buffalo  and  Hauge  Norwegian  Synods,  with  their  10,- 
000  members.  If  her  own  7,500  communicants  be  added  % 
to  the  above  figures,  we  have  an  aggregate  of  660,700  in 
this  country  who  are  standing  squarely  upon  this  true  and 
immovable  foundation. 

The  congregation  that  has  erected  this  very  comfortable, 
neat  and  commodious  edifice  in  which  we  are  now  assembled, 
and  which,  after  the  close  of  this  discourse,  is  to  be  sol- 
emnly dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  triune  God,  is  to  be 
an  integral  portion  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennessee 
Synod,  and  therefore  in  the  fullest  sense  an  hitegral  portion 
of  the  great  Lutheran  family — the  Church  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, the  Church  whose  foundation  is  the  Apostles  and  Proph- 
ets, Jesus  Christ  the  chief  corner-stone.  Li  view  of  these 
facts,  the  inevitable  conclusion  forces  itself  upon  us,  that  this 
congregation  has  for  its  foundation  the  one  mentioned  in  our 
text.  If  so,  then  this  house  rests  upon  the  same  sure  foun- 
dation, and  it  is  therefore  our  privilege  and  rightful  duty  to 
solemnly  set  it  apart  to  the  use  of  this  congregation,  as  a 
suitable  place  in  which  to  worship  Him  who  is  the  foundation 
of  this  house,  of  this  congregation,  of  the  Tennessee  Synod, 


APPENDIX   B.  149 

of  the  Lutheran  Churchy  of  the  Church  of  the  Reformation, 
of  the  Church  Universal. 

Take  courage,  brethren,  and  do  not  falter  or  be  alarmed, 
though  others  sneer  at  us  and  even  scorn  us.  Let  Romanists 
charge  us  with  heresy  as  they  have  done  for  the  last  three 
hundred  years.  Let  ultra-Protestants  charge  us  with  being 
hyper-scrupulous  in  regard  to  doctrine,  as  some  do.  Let 
fanatics  accuse  us  with  having  a  religion  of  the  head  and 
not  of  the  heart  as  some  of  them  delight  to  do.  Let  some 
even  of  our  household  of  faith  who  have  the  same  confes- 
sional basis  with  ourselves,  make  unwise  and  ungenerous 
flings  at  us  and  term  us  Henkelites  as  some  of  them  flip- 
pantly do.  We  need  feel  no  concern.  If  the  faith  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  is  heresy  then  the  Bible  teaches  heresy, 
for  there  is  not  a  Church  upon  earth  which  can  trace  her  doc- 
trines more  directly  to  the  Bible  than  we  can  do.  If  we  are 
hyper-scrupulous  about  doctrine,  then  the  Apostles  were,  for 
St.  Paul  says,  "  the  Scriptures  are  profitable  for  doctrine." 

"The  time  will  come  when  men  will  not  endure  sound 
doctrine."  "Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  mark  them 
that  cause  divisions  among  you,  contrary  to  the  doctrine." 
"  Take  heed  to  thyself  and  the  doctrine ;  continue  in  them ; 
for  in  doing  this  thou  wilt  both  save  thyself  and  them  that 
heed  thee."  St.  John  says,  "If  there  come  any  unto  you 
and  bring  not  this  doctrine,  receive  them  not  into  your 
houses,  nor  bid  them  God  speed."  If  the  religion  we  pro- 
fess is  of  the  head  only  and  not  of  the  heart,  then  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Bible  must  be  of  that  sort,  for  we  know  no 
religion  and  will  accept  none  but  that  which  the  New  Testa- 
ment teaches.  If  we  are  Henkelites  because  we  hold, 
teach  and  defend  the  entire  doctrines  of  the  Confessions  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  then  there  are  many  more  Henkel- 
ites ;  for  we  have  shown  that  there  are  in  this  countrv 


150  APPE^^DIX   B. 

nearly  700,000  that  do  the  same  thing,  and  among  them 
our  mother  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  and  at  least  20,000,- 
000  in  other  countries,  who  hold  the  same  doctrines  in  truth 
and  sincerity.     This  we  all  do,  because  we  are  certain  that 
their  doctrines  are  drawn  from  that  inexhaustible  source  of 
truth,  that  word  of  God,  which   the  apostle  declares  to  "  be 
quick  and  po  verful,  and  that  liveth  and  abideth  forever" — 
that  word  which  the  Saviour  of  the  world  says,  "  Though 
heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  my   word  shall  not  pass.'* 
Fear  not,  therefore,  little  flock,  the  Lord  is  with  us ;  and, 
therefore,  let  us  dedicate  this  house  as  we  have  proposed  to 
do,  to  the  worship  of  Him  who  has  said,  "  I  will  never  leave 
thee  nor  forsake  thee,"  "and  lo!  I  am  with  you  alway  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world."     God  grant  that  you  and  your 
successors  may  always  preserve  the  pure  worship  of  God  in 
it.    Permit  me  to  exhort  you  to  see  to  it  that  the  pure  word 
of  God  be  always  preached  within  these  walls,  and  that  the 
Holy  Sacraments  be  always  administered  here  according  to 
the  command  of  Christ.  Then  you  will  feel  assured  that  hence- 
forth this  will  be  none  other  than  the  "  house  of  God,  the  gate 
of  heaven,"  in  which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God,  the 
ground  and  pillar  of  the  truth,  which  is  "  built  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  being 
the  chief  corner-stone."     May   God  bless  you  and  your 
work  to  the  good  of  the  present  and  future  generations,  and 
may  the  generations  that  shall  succeed  you  pronounce  bless- 
ings upon  your  names.     Amen. 


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